Bria are back with a new batch of country-informed covers for the aptly titled Cuntry Covers Vol. 2. The follow-up to last year's Vol. 1 — which made our 25 Best EPs of 2021 — will arrive via Sub Pop on February 24.
This latest collection finds the band formed by Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings (of Orville Peck's band and Toronto post-hardcore outfit FRIGS) reworking classic tunes by Loretta Lynn, Gillian Welch, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Robert Lester Folsom and Glenn Campbell by way of Nick Cave.
"Physical space and environment have greatly informed each iteration of Cuntry Covers," Salmena said of working on the new volume. "With Vol. 1 we had acres of beautiful farmland in summer to explore. With Vol. 2 we had a small apartment in Toronto during the dark winter months that created a kind of claustrophobic creative energy."
Today, the band share a blissed-out cover of Paula Cole's "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" alongside a music video by Lunakhods. This isn't Salmena's first rodeo with Cole's track, having first become enamoured with it at the age of seven when she heard the track on the 1997 Women & Songs compilation.
"The song stuck with me — I found Cole's delivery to be both brooding and chilling," she explained. "The lyrics all together are confused; discovery, disillusionment, despair. I wanted to make it even more dystopian by turning it into a dreamy dance track. This track became the first song to inspire the 'Homage' approach to these covers, embracing the spirit of experimentation. We wanted to stretch this song as far as it would go while honouring the elements of it that make it memorable."
Watch the video for "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting.
Last fall, Exclaim! spoke with Jennings and Salmena about Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 and their place within the Canadian alt-country upheaval alongside the likes of Le Ren, Fiver, Skinny Dyck and more.
Cuntry Covers Vol. 2:
1. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?
2. When You Know Why You're Happy
3. Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)
4. By the Time I Get to Phoenix
5. I Dream a Highway
6. See You Later, I'm Gone
Pre-order Cuntry Covers Vol. 2.
This latest collection finds the band formed by Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings (of Orville Peck's band and Toronto post-hardcore outfit FRIGS) reworking classic tunes by Loretta Lynn, Gillian Welch, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Robert Lester Folsom and Glenn Campbell by way of Nick Cave.
"Physical space and environment have greatly informed each iteration of Cuntry Covers," Salmena said of working on the new volume. "With Vol. 1 we had acres of beautiful farmland in summer to explore. With Vol. 2 we had a small apartment in Toronto during the dark winter months that created a kind of claustrophobic creative energy."
Today, the band share a blissed-out cover of Paula Cole's "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" alongside a music video by Lunakhods. This isn't Salmena's first rodeo with Cole's track, having first become enamoured with it at the age of seven when she heard the track on the 1997 Women & Songs compilation.
"The song stuck with me — I found Cole's delivery to be both brooding and chilling," she explained. "The lyrics all together are confused; discovery, disillusionment, despair. I wanted to make it even more dystopian by turning it into a dreamy dance track. This track became the first song to inspire the 'Homage' approach to these covers, embracing the spirit of experimentation. We wanted to stretch this song as far as it would go while honouring the elements of it that make it memorable."
Watch the video for "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting.
Last fall, Exclaim! spoke with Jennings and Salmena about Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 and their place within the Canadian alt-country upheaval alongside the likes of Le Ren, Fiver, Skinny Dyck and more.
Cuntry Covers Vol. 2:
1. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?
2. When You Know Why You're Happy
3. Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)
4. By the Time I Get to Phoenix
5. I Dream a Highway
6. See You Later, I'm Gone
Pre-order Cuntry Covers Vol. 2.