Last week, sun-bleached Californian Christian pop rockers Switchfoot announced that they were spending the time they would have spent on tour with Nickelback by covering some decidedly hip artists (and the Chainsmokers). We've heard their take on Frank Ocean, but now the time has come to listen to their Vampire Weekend cover.
If you're thinking this is an entirely inappropriate time for Switchfoot to be promoting a Vampire Weekend cover, the band's Jon Foreman mostly agrees. But he's shared a thoughtful statement along with the tune:
During this difficult week, we have been wrestling with whether or not we should release new music — trying to listen more than speak.
As an American, there are so many reasons to mourn, to be angry, to lament. There is so much that we need to change. Let's take a good, long look at who we are and who we've been. Let's promise each other that we will continue to fight for a better version of America. A better version of ourselves.
Music quite often says what words cannot. Singing into the storms of life, music provides a scaffolding for our souls to reach for something beyond ourselves.
And so we decided to sing. This is our attempt to do what we do best — to sing into the storm. Our new song is a cover of Vampire Weekend's "Harmony Hall," a song that feels incredibly relevant to the week that we've had as a nation.
"Harmony Hall" takes inspiration from former slave plantations named Harmony Hall. For me, this is a song that acknowledges that if we are to change our future, we need to first confess our past.
I confess my fears. I confess my silence. I want to live a life that transcends these fears and reaches out in love towards justice. To all my black brothers and sisters out there, I stand with you. I kneel with you. I weep with you. I mourn with you. I long for justice alongside you.
"The stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness." America, we need to do better than this.
As for the music itself, it's a strong albeit squeaky clean interpretation of the tune, which has had surprising legs since it was first released last year.
Switchfoot will release Covers on June 19 via Fantasy Records.
If you're thinking this is an entirely inappropriate time for Switchfoot to be promoting a Vampire Weekend cover, the band's Jon Foreman mostly agrees. But he's shared a thoughtful statement along with the tune:
During this difficult week, we have been wrestling with whether or not we should release new music — trying to listen more than speak.
As an American, there are so many reasons to mourn, to be angry, to lament. There is so much that we need to change. Let's take a good, long look at who we are and who we've been. Let's promise each other that we will continue to fight for a better version of America. A better version of ourselves.
Music quite often says what words cannot. Singing into the storms of life, music provides a scaffolding for our souls to reach for something beyond ourselves.
And so we decided to sing. This is our attempt to do what we do best — to sing into the storm. Our new song is a cover of Vampire Weekend's "Harmony Hall," a song that feels incredibly relevant to the week that we've had as a nation.
"Harmony Hall" takes inspiration from former slave plantations named Harmony Hall. For me, this is a song that acknowledges that if we are to change our future, we need to first confess our past.
I confess my fears. I confess my silence. I want to live a life that transcends these fears and reaches out in love towards justice. To all my black brothers and sisters out there, I stand with you. I kneel with you. I weep with you. I mourn with you. I long for justice alongside you.
"The stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness." America, we need to do better than this.
As for the music itself, it's a strong albeit squeaky clean interpretation of the tune, which has had surprising legs since it was first released last year.
Switchfoot will release Covers on June 19 via Fantasy Records.