REVIEW- Thinking Out Loud (Cover by Jasmine Thompson)

The perfect complement to Ed Sheeran's original version.

Jasmine released her acoustic cover of Thinking Out Loud on February 14, 2015. It's a beautiful cover, unique in its own right but true to the spirit of the song.

I'd consider Jasmine's version less of a cover and more of a complement to Sheeran's version. It's as if the songs are speaking to one another. Sheeran's version is the call, as it's sung from the perspective of the man seeking to be "TAKEN into her open arms."

Jasmine's version is the response, sung from the perspective of the woman TAKING the object of her affections into her "loving arms." She sings the song in a tender whisper, receptively, softly affirming Sheeran's cathartic desire for unconditional love. The style reminds me of the way Cowboy Junkie's lead singer Margo Timmins sings such songs as Tuesday Morning in a soft-spoken and tender voice.

When doing a cover, Jasmine typically transforms the original song into something uniquely her style, and it works again here. To have mimicked Sheeran's version like so many other male and female cover artists have done would have changed the perspective of Jasmine's version from female to male, destroying the song's complementary spirit.

The two versions are so complementary that if you could synch the two songs together, I believe they would harmonize beautifully with one other. It would be amazing to see the two do a duet together.