Opera Star Renee Fleming Takes on Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie on "Dark Hope"

Superstar soprano Renee Fleming is reinterpreting the term "rock opera" this spring with her new album Dark Hope. The Grammy-winning opera singer will take on songs by Arcade Fire, Muse, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen and many more on the disc, which was produced by David Kahne. "I've always been inspired by artists who have shown musical and intellectual curiosity and the courage to take risks," Fleming says. "Because everything about the voice interests me, I felt it would be fascinating to learn a completely different style of singing."

Fleming jumps from Mozart and Carmen to Jefferson Airplane, Duffy and Mars Volta on Dark Hope, and she says her primary goal was interpreting the songs in a way that made sense for her own unique voice. "Every song has a story, so this whole idea of enacting or playing a role is doubly true for this music." Fleming's sister and two daughters also join her on Dark Soul as backup singers.

Fleming is set to take on Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You," Arcade Fire's "Intervention" and Tears For Fears' "Mad World." She'll also become the latest singer to violate Leonard Cohen's call for a moratorium on "Hallelujah" covers, but we're sure Cohen would give a voice like Fleming special permission to tackle the classic track.

Dark Hope Track List:
"Endlessly" (Muse)
"No One's Gonna Love You" (Band of Horses)
"Oxygen" (Willy Mason)
"Today" (Jefferson Airplane)
"Intervention" (Arcade Fire)
"With Twilight As My Guide" (The Mars Volta)
"Mad World" (Tears for Fears)
"In Your Eyes" (Peter Gabriel)
"Stepping Stone" (Duffy)
"Soul Meets Body" (Death Cab For Cutie)
"Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen)

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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