Dean Wareham A Gift (Lou Reed cover)

About

Earlier this year Dean Wareham released his 4th solo album, That’s The Price of Loving Me. Wareham returns with a cover of Lou Reed’s “A Gift” (from Reed’s 1976 album Coney Island Baby), out September 15 via Carpark Records. The track was recorded at Dean’s home studio in Los Angeles with his wife Britta Phillips and it was mastered by longtime collaborator Kramer. “I came late to Reed’s 1976 Coney Island Baby album but have come to appreciate its laid-back ‘70s vibe; Lou’s singing is gentle and the songs are intimate,” Dean explains, “He dedicates the title track to his trans lover Rachel Humphries, so it’s surely tongue-in-cheek when he sings “I’m just a gift to the women of this world.”

Artist Bio

Dean Wareham was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He moved to New York City as a teenager in 1977, and attended the high school where he met his future Galaxie 500 bandmates. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Social Studies. In 1987 he founded Galaxie 500, who released three albums, all produced by Kramer and released on Rough Trade. 2024 saw the release of new compilation of B-sides and previously unreleased tracks: Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90. Wareham’s next band Luna recorded seven albums for Elektra and Beggar’s Banquet (including Penthouse, on Rolling Stone’s list of best albums of the 90s), followed by three albums as Dean & Britta (with his wife Britta Phillips), and two solo albums. His most recent release, also on Carpark Records, was a holiday album in collaboration with Britta and Sonic Boom.

His memoir Black Postcards is a chronicle of his years in indie rock and was published by Penguin. He has also co-composed soundtracks and acted in several films for Noah Baumbach, most recently White Noise.

That’s the Price of Loving Me is Dean’s first album with Kramer since Galaxie 500’s This Is Our Music in 1990.