This AI-generated song got a very human makeover

Adrian Younge isn’t typically excited about performing cover songs. But earlier this year, the polymath composer and promoter behind the Los Angeles-based Jazz Is Dead record label and event production company felt called to put his stamp on a popular piece of music. Younge arranged charts for the Midnight Hour band and singer Loren Oden to collaborate on a unique recording: a human cover of one of the first AI-generated hits. “Through My Soul” is an AI-created soul song “performed” by faux female Enlly Blue that debuted in October on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart. It has since racked up millions of digital streams. The YouTube video for the original “Through My Soul” has been viewed more than 11 million times. On his first listen to “Through My Soul,” Younge, who already knew it was AI-generated, believed he could hear how the track had been assembled. He could decipher the influences that might have been fed into a program or chatbot to produce the music. The result did not resonate with him. While the technology’s capabilities were somewhat surprising, the song ultimately felt soulless. “I support people exploring their art to find the true artist within,” Younge says. “When you’re just asking a computer to do it, it’s just sad.” Though initially reluctant to spend so much time writing charts and recording an AI-made track, Younge took up the challenge to see whether he could bring life to the song. Younge told the musicians to be bombastic and dynamic, to “kick this song’s ass.” (In a short film about the process, vocalist Oden laughed at how many words the song tried to cram into each line.) After the group recorded the track, which was released in April, they played it again at a live performance at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles. After that show, Younge realized that he kind of liked the song. In fact, he felt “it hit hard and was beautiful.” Younge hasn’t just come around on “Through My Soul,” he’s made his cover of the song part of his set. When he