Jessie Baylin Releases Cover of Bette Midler's 'Do You Wanna Dance'

Jessie Baylin's rendition of Bette Midler's 1972 recording of "Do You Wanna Dance" written by Bobby Freeman debuted today at T: The New York Times Style Magazine. The magazine describes the cover song as "dreamy" and "sultry" adding, "...the record is a lush and slightly nostalgic collection that recalls big, warm AM radio singles, as well as soulful female vocalists like Dusty Springfield and Nancy Sinatra."

The song is from Baylin's highly anticipated new album, Dark Place, which will be released April 7 on Blonde Rat (Baylin's own indie label via Thirty Tigers). Already receiving critical acclaim, ELLE Magazine recently premiered the album's first single "Creepers (Young Love)." The single can be heard/shared via SoundCloud and purchased on iTunes. In celebration of the release, Baylin will embark on a series of special performances this spring, including shows in Nashville, New York and L.A.

Baylin recorded Dark Place over nine days at Richard Swift's studio in Cottage Grove, OR. Swift (Foxygen, Tennis) produced, arranged, mixed and performed all instrumentation on the album (except for Scotty Murray on guitar for "The Ringer") with Baylin performing all vocals. Baylin and Swift also co-wrote six of the ten songs on the album.

Of her close collaboration with Swift, Baylin comments, "During the making of Little Spark, I first met Richard Swift and with him there was instant trust and chemistry. He was the first person who I felt saw me as an artist and he wasn't expecting anything except for me to be myself." Their relationship continued with the making of the Pleasure CenterEP, released in November of 2011, and also marked the beginning of mapping out the next album. "In recording Dark Place we immediately understood the direction this album was going to undertake," Baylin concludes.

Dark Place follows Baylin's critically acclaimed 2012 release, Little Spark (Blonde Rat), of which NPR's All Things Considered praised, "...evokes a sound you might have heard 40 years ago, piercing through the static of your AM radio. The big string sections and angelic choruses are all there, echoing the hallmarks of classic orchestral pop," while Rolling Stone asserted, "...both seductive and distant, as if she's singing across miles of echo and doubt. This is an album of potent moods."

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