Tom Odell on covering Joni Mitchell - plus watch his live session

Virgin Radio

2 Jul 2021, 17:56

The singer-songwriter joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to play a fantastic live session. He also chatted to Chris about spending time with Elton John, and about an unfortunate mishap when filming his latest video. 

During his live session, Tom played an amazing cover of the Joni Mitchell classic, A Case of You, which is taken from her seminal 1971 album, Blue. When talking to Chris about his choice of cover version, Tom said, “She is one of the greatest songwriters that will ever be. That song, learning it, was like a spiritual moment for me this week. I sat there and every hair on my body was stood up. It is such a stunning song.”

Tom went on to further explain what he loves about A Case of You and Joni Mitchell in general. “She was touching something profound, and it’s such a huge honour to have songs like that. It inspires me so much to write good songs.

“Her melody is so free, it’s so untethered. She just does totally what she wants and when you listen to the record, it’s not recorded to any click, it’s so spontaneous, and you can feel her recording it for probably the first time, one take. I could talk about Joni Mitchell for hours! She’s a truly inspiring artist.”

Tom told Chris about the time that he met Joni Mitchell. “A couple of years ago I met her in Los Angeles. I was in this crazy room with her, and Elton John, and Pete Townshend... and me! I sat there and I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’

“I was watching Elton’s biopic. It was with a live orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. Elton was amazing to me. I was having a really rough time around that period. I was really struggling with these panic attacks. It was becoming so awful and I was getting them every single day. And Elton, I don’t know how I knew I was in LA, he said to come down to this show. And then about a week later, he called me up again, when I was back in London, and he was like, ‘Come down to this other show.’ He really sat me down and he was like, ‘Are you okay?’. That man is so caring.” 

During his session, Tom also played Another Love from his 2013 debut, Long Way Down, as well as the title track from his new studio album, Monster. 

Another song that Tom played was his new single, Lose You Again, the video for which was filmed at a completely empty Wembley Stadium. Tom told Chris about the making of the clip, which involved a bit of a mishap. “We got the piano in the middle of Wembley Stadium at night, and it was very successful, apart from a drone crash. We had quite a bad drone crash, where the driver flew it into the stand at about 80 miles per hour and it exploded!

“I felt very sorry for him. It was fine, because he was insured and everything. I felt very sad, but there were a few faint smiles, only because it was just so dramatic. Obviously no-one got hurt, but it was slightly ridiculous.”

Tom’s tour starts in Spring 2022. He said, “We’re going all round the UK, and it’s worth getting a ticket just to see the smile on me and the band’s face when we step onstage. It’s going to be over two-and-a-half years since we’ve done a show.”

Tom’s new album, Monster, is out now. For tickets to his 2022 tour, visit tomodell.com

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.