Farah Elle, BARQ, Little Hours and other Irish acts have combined to create ‘Degrees of Light – Experiments in Happiness’ a compilation album for Aware.

The album features 13 cover versions of well-known songs such as Fast Car, Everlong, and Mr Blue Sky, performed by up-and-coming Irish acts.

The project was recorded and produced for Aware by the Sound Training Centre, Temple Bar.

We caught up with Farah Elle who covered Massive Attack’s Teardrop, for the compilation to find out why she got involved in the project and why she chose to record Teardrop.

“They asked me to choose a song that gets me up when I’m down”says Farah Elle, before explaining her long love-affair with the track. “I originally covered it when I was 14, so the idea of revisiting that now was interesting because it gave me the chance reflect on how I’ve always depicted it.”

“As a song, I think it’s really beautiful and delicate & Massive Attack’s lyrics (and their sound) seem so natural and abstract on the ears too.”

Farah believes the song fits perfectly with the mission of the album to raise funds for the charity Aware, who provide services for people suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.

“I feel like that song helped me through lots of times and I hoped that putting my own spin on it might give people another way to hear it and hopefully feel something!

I was delighted to take part because the concept of a charity album of ‘songs to get you up when you’re down’ is quite important, as it highlights the power and importance of music and how it can have a really positive impact on our day to day life.”

You can listen to ‘Degrees of Light – Experiments in Happiness’ in full below, featuring Farah Elle’s version of Teardrop (track 7). Other highlights include Barq‘s take on Am I Wrong and Little Hours‘ version of Everlong.