Becca HatchBecca Hatch entered the triple j studio for Like A Version, and she dove right in with an absolute classic.
Taking on Sade’s Smooth Operator, from the band’s 1984 debut album, Diamond Life, Hatch is backed by a full band – including a saxophonist, an essential element of the song. She put her own twist on the track, having her vocals take centre stage and gradually build the layers of Smooth Operator, transforming it into a respectful, dance-led number.
Singing about the central figure in the song – a fashionable con man moving through high social circles and breaking hearts everywhere he goes, Hatch delivers some necessary fire.
While in the triple j studio, Becca Hatch also performed her song, Black Flower, and discussed what went into her cover of Smooth Operator.
“I really wanted to make it have kind of this dance element,” Hatch shared. “A lot of my music is like R&B, soul meets house music or drum and bass, these dance elements.
“So, we kind of just wanted to add all these different things to really bring my kind of vibe and the vibe I have in my live shows.”
Hatch later reflected on her previous Like A Version performances, including her last visit, which involved covering Bob Marley’s One Love with Archie Roach.
You can watch Hatch’s Like A Version, Black Flower, and her interview below.
Black Flower follows Hatch’s addition to this year’s Spilt Milk Festival and feature on Disney’s Moana: Voices Across the Ocean album, with the track Natural. The Moana project was produced by Dwayne Johnson, Lauren Hashian, Tiana Nonosina Liufau and Kayla Fa'amaligi and brings Pacific artists together in a celebration of culture, heritage, and identity.
Other highlights for Hatch include her recent singles, Garden (Bang Goes the Drum) and Daylight Robbery, which charted on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart.
Discussing her latest single, Hatch said, “Black Flower is a song about Black love and the unspoken understanding that exists between us through shared Black experience. It holds Black love in all its forms, including friendship, sisterhood, romantic love, and community. A Black flower can represent softness and strength at the same time. Growth despite conditions. Becoming on your own terms.
“To me, a Black Flower is many things at once. It is growth and resistance. Softness and strength. Survival, beauty, and becoming.”
