The R.E.M. classic gets recast as a spirits-lifting gospel number by Roy Young, a Jamaican native in his 50s based in Tel Aviv who might finally get his due when the album Memphis (produced by Willie Mitchell), is released later this year on Tommy Boy. Judging by the four songs streamed online, Young is a gravelly-voiced soul survivor capable of projecting myriad emotions onto any song he deems worthy. On this impassioned reading of "Everybody Hurts," the singer sounds like a fighter pinned to the ropes but determined not to fall. A sweet choir of women backs Young, along with a superb horn section that sounds transported from the late '60s.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2007.