Taking on a song as instantly recognizable as Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” is a dangerous proposition, but that’s exactly what uNDERGROUND kEYBOARD sets out to do with their latest single, “SOYL”. That descending blues-rock riff is practically carved into rock history, and the song is one of the defining heavy-rock recordings of the late 1960s. But uNDERGROUND kEYBOARD isn’t here to compete with Cream on Cream’s terms. Instead, this remake shifts the emphasis toward the keyboard-based, hypnotic side of the composition, treating the famous riff like raw material that can be reshaped.
Where the original gains much of its personality from the physical push-and-pull between Bruce, Clapton and Baker, “SOYL” approaches the track more as an atmosphere. With a track this legendary, reinterpretations can only succeed by substantially deconstructing or redirecting the original.
“SOYL” follows that philosophy and deliberately takes a muted approach. There’s still a sense of rising towards the chorus, but it’s more atmospheric and dreamlike compared to the hard-hitting original. Perhaps that’s why the band describes this incarnation as a rehearsal version. It gives the recording an intentionally less ceremonial character, and treats it as something to be experimented with and played around with.
There is also a nice circularity to the release. Benotte’s original 2015 remake of “Sunshine of Your Love” brought outside industry attention to the project and encouraged him to pursue it internationally. Returning to the track in 2026, the production sensibilities accrued by uNDERGROUND kEYBOARD over the last decade are obvious. The balancing of the vocal and the guitar arrangement is a definite improvement, and the mix never strays from the theme it sets out at the start.
The main challenge is unavoidable: the riff is so dominant that virtually every interpretation remains trapped in Cream’s gravitational field. But uNDERGROUND kEYBOARD understands that there is no reason to make “Sunshine of Your Love” heavier than Cream did nearly sixty years ago. Instead, it leans into repetition, keyboards and the song’s naturally hypnotic qualities, revealing how adaptable that immortal central riff remains. For a song that has been interpreted countless times since 1967, that willingness to reshape rather than merely reproduce it is exactly what a remake needs.
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