Mickey Mouse is releasing pop punk album with Elton John song as debut track
Mickey Mouse is curating a pop punk album with the debut track covering a song from The Lion King.
A Whole New Sound, which features Disney’s greatest hits covered by alternative, rock and pop-punk bands, is releasing its first single, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, by Sir Elton John, on Friday.
It is being re-recorded by Simple Plan, known for the 2000s’ hits Perfect, I’m Just A Kid and Welcome To My Life.
“We wanted to pay homage to Sir Elton John’s original version while also adding our own style to it and making it sound fun and energetic,” the Canadian rock band said.
“We’re really stoked by how it turned out and we hope everyone will enjoy it.”
Sir Elton, who contributed to the Lion King soundtrack with Hans Zimmer, won an Oscar for Can You Feel The Love Tonight, with lyricist Sir Tim Rice.
The artwork for the record features Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy on the outside stairway of a building in black and white with stripes of purple and green, reminiscent of rock band album fronts.
It has been decades since Disney released a full album from its most enduring character, Mickey, who was created in 1928.
There was Mickey Mouse Disco in 1979, which was a late entry to the genre that began in the late 1960s, Yankee Doodle Mickey and Mickey Mouse Splashdance in the 1980s,l and rap music in Mickey Unrapped in 1994.
Hallmark Celebrates 75 Years With Mickey was released by the card company in 2003, and songs from the 2020 to 2023 series The Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse was released on two LPs, named after the Disney+ show.
Other bands contributing to the album will be disclosed at a later date.
Simple Plan, founded in Montreal in 1999, had their highest UK chart performance with Summer Paradise, featuring Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, which reached number 12 in 2012.
The band’s other top 100 chart entrants I’d Do Anything, Addicted, Shut Up, Welcome To My Life, When I’m Gone, and Your Love Is A Lie came out between 2003 and 2008.
On August 9, Simple Plan will perform the song at at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California.
“We grew up watching Disney movies with our families and now we get to enjoy them with our own kids so it’s pretty amazing to have been invited to be on this album,” Simple Plan said.
In 2022, the band released Harder Than It Looks.
“It’s amazingly complex to be in a band for 20-plus years, to keep going, stay relevant and manage all the challenges that come your way,” frontman Pierre Bouvier said..
“It’s the furthest thing from a simple plan, it’s truly a lot harder than it looks.
“Throughout our career it’s taken a while to be mature enough to understand that our sound is an asset, not a liability.”
He also said they try to “just embrace who we are and not be afraid to do what we do best”.
