The honchos at Motown have done a lot of work over the past few years reminding us just how important their catalogue is. (As if we needed any convincing.) There have been releases for the casual fan and the hardcore collector, from the many “Definitive Collection” compilations for artists like The Supremes, The Temptations and The Miracles to the exhaustive, ongoing series of each and every single A and B-side released by the label from 1959 to 1972.

And just when you thought there could be nothing left to mine from Motown’s infinite vaults, Hip-o Select puts out Motown Around the World: The Classic Singles, one of the most unusually captivating titles ever released by the label. The two-disc set compiles some of the greatest hits from the Golden Age of Motown, but with a twist – they’re all sung in foreign languages!

As the liner notes essay explains, Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. decided to record new vocal tracks to deepen the songs’ impact on the charts in Italy, Germany and Spain. The end result is two discs full of surprises to even the biggest Motown devotee.

These are songs you know and love – “My Girl,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “My Cherie Amour” and others – but in other languages they take on a whole new meaning, sometimes literally (“Come See About Me” is recast in German as a “Two Lovers”-type song called “Johnny Und Joe”) and always figuratively. There are even a few intriguing original tunes written and recorded for international audiences, the highlight of which is Stevie Wonder’s Italian ballad “Se Tu Ragazza Mia.” (Wonder, with 11 tracks on this set, was clearly the standout when it came to learning new languages at Motown.)

And it’s the high production values that bumps this set past the novelty level. The liner notes are printed in a passport-shaped booklet, which is just awesome. The track annotations are the usual high level of detail listeners have come to expect with Hip-o Select projects. It’s not flawless – the stickers that accompany the package are a little silly, the essay (by Shenandoah Conservatory music professor Andrew Flory) is a tad on the dry side and audio purists will probably gripe that a few of the songs are sourced from vinyl singles (albeit really well-preserved ones).

Quibbles aside, this is a must-own for the most devoted Motown fans out there. And if nothing else, this set proves that The Sound of Young America was truly an enduring, worldwide phenomenon that didn’t require any particular creed or caste to enjoy.