PREMIERE: Jon Muq Releases Cover of “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying”

Tomorrow, Austin singer-songwriter Jon Muq will share his debut album, Flying Away. Produced by Dan Auerbach, the record is the latest effort to be released from the Black Keys’ frontman’s Easy Eye Sound label. Before the whole thing comes out, Muq has covered a folk-pop classic: Labi Siffre’s “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying.” Muq brings his own soulful sound to the track, inflecting it with a new vibrancy that matches the raw talent and jubilant energy that sets Flying Away aglow. This cover just makes sense, and Auerbach thought so, too.

“I was hanging out with Dan Auerbach, playing for him some of my song as was also jamming with me,” Muq says. “After the session he played ‘Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying.’ He just told me, ‘You’ll nail this song.’ When I listened to it I was so mind-blown. I flew back to Austin, took time to sit and listen to the song and [it] made me emotional. The purity of Labi Siffre!! Was amazing. I later sent Dan a raw demo of me singing it and he was like, ‘Yes!!!’ I think all four of those words keep the world going in a positive and negative way!”

Listen to Jon Muq’s cover of “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying” below.