Wolf Alice have joined forces with Sunflower Bean‘s Julia Cumming and Bria Salmena to share a cover of The Roches’ ‘Hammond Song’.
The track comes on the heels of Wolf Alice playing their biggest show to date at London’s Finsbury Park, where they were joined by The Last Dinner Party, Lykke Li, Rachel Chinouriri, Keo, and Florence Road.
They have also recently released the single ‘Gospel Oak’ – the first of three songs from a new 7” B-side package the band are set to release digitally over the coming weeks.
Now, they have released a cover of The Roches’ ‘Hammond Song’, in which they enlist Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming and Bria Salmena for a collaboration.
The song is inspired by the three-sister dynamic in the original band, and was recorded by frontwoman Ellie Rowsell, Julia and Bria in LA during the sessions for Wolf Alice’s latest album, ‘The Clearing’.
“We love this song by The Roches, the guitar work and the vocal treatment, we actually referenced in ‘Blue Weekend’ but it stuck around as something that inspired us for ‘The Clearing’ too,” Rowsell shared.
“Recording in LA, where both Bria and Julia were living, it just seemed like a really fun thing to do to learn those harmonies and sing them with two of our favourite singers.”
The original song was written by Maggie Roche, and came inspired by how the trio left a budding musical career in New York to spend six months in Hammond, Louisiana – supporting one of the sisters’ quest for love, a decision they all came to regret.
The cover from Wolf Alice, Julia Cumming and Bria Salmena marks the second song to be shared from the forthcoming B-sides album, and the full release is set to drop on August 21, on the one year anniversary of ‘The Clearing’ being released. Visit here to pre-order.
Earlier this week, Wolf Alice played their largest New York City show to date at Pier 17 and broke out the song alongside Julia and Bria for the first time.
Their set in London saw them cover Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, and was given a glowing five star review from NME. “They’ve been brilliant since the beginning, but over the years, have developed into one of the very best around,” the review read.
“In ‘Leaning Against The Wall’, Rowsell nods to a romantic gesture by a partner as she sings, “You put my name up in lights”. In these final minutes, Wolf Alice’s own name is spelt out in bulbs that shine through the silver fringe that frames the Finsbury Park stage, and it feels like a testament to the years of hard work that have led them to this moment. Long may they continue.”
