“Love Comes Quickly” by State Azure (Pet Shop Boys Cover)

Earlier this month, State Azure released 80s Ambient Reinterpretations, an EP of highly atmospheric takes on classic ’80s songs like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” For my money, though, the best of the batch is his cover of Pet Shop Boys’ “Love Comes Quickly,” from 1986’s Please.

The original Pet Shop Boys song is not without a sense of atmosphere, thanks to Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s immaculate synth arrangements. State Azure’s cover highlights the song’s core elements — like its pensive piano riffs — while expanding it to nearly nine minutes with drifting vocal treatments, pulsing beats, and plenty of his own trademark ambient textures and production.

I’ll admit, I don’t often picture ambient musicians doing covers, but State Azure’s work clearly succeeds as a love letter to Messrs. Tennant and Lowe.