Josh Hodges records as Sexton Blake, and recently released a covers album (wait, don’t cringe yet) that is satisfying and an enjoyable listen from start to finish. It’s a big undertaking to take on Bruce Springsteen (”Hungry Heart”), Elton John (”Daniel”), and Rod Stewart (”Young Turks”). It’s possibly a bigger adventure to take on the bizarre or slightly less-deserving like Milli Vanilli (”Girl You Know It’s True”) or LL Cool J (”I Need Love”). Regardless, the culmination of Sexton Blake Plays The Hits! is worth exploring even if out of sheer intrigue.

We got our first taste of Sexton Blake when he contributed his take of Elliot Smith’s “Rose Parade” to the To: Elliott From: Portland compilation last year. It was a fitting contribution seeing that Blake’s warm and whispered delivery is most often compared to the late Smith.

With so many good selections it was hard to decide which track to let you preview. We’ve been on a big Sir Elton kick around MoB HQ lately, so we’ll hit you up with Sexton Blake’s cover of “Daniel.”

Buy: CD Baby
Myspace: Sexton Blake
MP3: Sexton Blake - Daniel (Elton John cover)

Bonus: My Morning Jacket - Rocket Man (Elton John cover)