Stephen Dawes brings a new light to an early 2000s pop hit with his cover of “Teenage Dream”

Taking a mega pop hit from Katy Perry’s discography like “Teenage Dream” and turning it on its side is an ambitious task, but it pays off exponentially with this cover by Stephan Dawes. From the beginning of this emotional new take, you can hardly recognize the original. In Dawes’ version, he offers a much more melancholy perspective on the already vulnerable lyrics of the original, and his soft, smooth strumming of an acoustic guitar mixed with vocals tinged with regret make for a simply powerful new take. Removing the synth and warm color of the original, the cooler tones of the lyrics shine through here and this song built on minimalism shows true power in its simplicity.

With a huge following already accruing on Tik-Tok, songwriter and producer Stephen Dawes has a goal of creating music to build a community. Producing music since high school and releasing his first EP in 2020, the rookie artist already has a slew of successful singles and EPs featured on popular streaming and social media platforms alike.

This particular cover, a “sad indie-folk version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,”” was arranged in a one-night session for Stephen Dawes. Immediately after its release, the positive responses of the single on TikTok and Instagram videos were overwhelming, with the track reaching over 700k views and 3k presaves almost overnight. From his already budding popularity, it’s clear Dawes will soon be making a bigger name for himself within the indie community.

Currently attending the NYU Clive Davis program for recorded music, new projects are surely coming up soon on the horizon for Dawes. Keep up with the young musician on his social media for updates and listen to his rendition of “Teenage Dream” below!