Brandon De La Cruz Gets Michael Hurley's Blessing On Upcoming Single 'I Love You Babe'

It’s no small feat to develop a relationship with one of your songwriting heroes. It’s another to obtain their blessing on a cover song of theirs you’ll be releasing. Such is the case with Portland/New Zealand indie folk singer-songwriter Brandon De La Cruz.

De La Cruz’s upcoming single, “I Love You Babe,” - which is set to release July 14th - is a deep cut from highly-heralded cult-favorite folk songwriter Michael Hurley. The track embodies both gravity and tenderness, and the quiet, distant picking that opens the track creates a meditative, steady rhythm for the singer's honey-steeped voice to float over. The bridges are colored by doo-wop style “la-la’s” that provide the perfect counterbalance to a minimal, spacious arrangement. “I Love You Babe” is pristinely sculpted, with light and shadow supporting and revealing each other in the interplay of its parts.

Hurley himself had this to say about De La Cruz’s cover of his song:

“That song of mine [“I Love You Babe”] he did was recorded at one of the sessions for the second Folkways album I was supposed to record, but I never finished it due to a move to Boston from Bucks County, and when I came back to New York some months later, the Folkways office had been closed. I had no knowledge of what to do then but get back on the train to Cambridge… I couldn't see how anybody could like [the song], but Brandon De La Cruz brings it into a new day, don't he? It sounds like new music to me.”

All of De La Cruz’s tracks on his upcoming album, Two Kilos of Blue, may be considered a reflection of his tenure as a staffer at Mississippi Records in Portland, Oregon, which is where his bond with Hurley bloomed. Samples of folk and country blues recordings issued from the early 20th century by Mississippi are used in De La Cruz’s upcoming album to subtly layer and build to his unique arrangements. “I Love You Babe” is the one conspicuously sample-free track. 

“When I was in Portland, I started working at this cafe called Sweedeedee, which is named after one of his songs, which was in the same building as Mississippi Records, which is a label that put out a lot of his music. I started working at the cafe without much knowledge of him, and I worked there for 4-5 years, and he’d come in a couple times a month.

After getting to know him a bit, his records slowly grew on me. Eventually I worked at the label in the store room and got to know him even more. And when I first heard [“I Love You Babe”], I just knew I loved it. It’s so little known, and I love the way it feels when I sing it. You know how there's certain songs, you can't really explain why, but they make you feel so good to sing like in your body? That one hit me in that way.”

“I Love You Babe” follows De La Cruz’s first single, “Disguise,” which came out June 2nd. Accompanying the upcoming release of "I Love You Babe" is an intimate performance video of the song De La Cruz just put out.

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