Canadian musician Konner Whitney channels the ghost of Lou Reed in his gritty baritone and the country-tinged music of Whitney K.

It really couldn’t sound more like Lou – perhaps on a deluxe edition of Coney Island Baby – unless Lou came back from the dead but it’s in no way a pastiche; just a strong similarity in vocal tone and timbre, and his cool detachment.

This country-tinged song, Morning After, comes from Konner’s latest album called Bubble, released under his stage name of Whitney K. 

It’s not just a Velvets pastiche, despite its obvious references to Sunday Morning and Pale Blue Eyes: the song also conjures ghosts of other country-adjacent artists like Lambchop, Smog and Wilco.

Whitney himself is responsible for all the lyrics here but the musical backings are credited to the core band responsible for recording them in their ‘home studio’ in Montreal – Josh Boguski, Michael Halls, Avalon Tassonyi and James Perry. 

I like the sly references to other artists: “Jesus Christ, I’m bored” could be a nod to Iggy’s New Values song of the same name, while another verse tips its hat to the Boss with the line: “It can be hard for tramps like us.”