Katharine McPhee Covers Florence + the Machine's 'Shake It Out' on 'Smash'

The March 12 'Chemistry' episode of 'Smash' finds Karen, played by 'American Idol' star Katharine McPhee, feeling down and out about struggling to make ends meet as a Broadway actress. In a bid to make some extra cash, the performer picks up a bar mitzvah gig, where she sings her troubles away with a cover of Florence and the Machine's feel-good hit 'Shake It Out.' But you don't need to wait until next week to hear the new cover -- our friends at the AOL Music Blog have the exclusive song premiere!

Apparently, Florence's message really hits home for Karen, who has a revelation about her passion for performance, despite that whole "starving artist" thing. "Believe it or not, when I was told I was going to sing with a bar mitzvah band, I thought, 'What could we do?' Of course everyone thought it should be an old standard but the label and I put our heads together to think what might be very cool and also fun," McPhee told AOL Music of the song selection process for the scene.

"We went through a bunch of songs and when I heard this last year, I knew we had to do it. Florence + the Machine's record had not come out yet but we had heard the song and thought this would be amazing especially in this setting," the singer/actress shared, adding, "So far this is one of my favorites."

It's one of our favorites, too! Listen to the 'Smash' rendition of 'Shake It Out,' and be sure to click over to both Katharine and Florence's Sessions performances in our AOL Music studios!