Girl In Red has shared a lively cover of ‘Girlfriend Is Better’, as part of a new Talking Heads tribute album. Check out the song below.
The track will be part of ‘Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense’, a project that was first announced in December by A24 Music.
The record will feature 16 artists sharing their own covers of Talking Heads classics – including the already released Lorde version of ‘Take Me to the River’, which Talking Heads themselves covered in 1978, from the 1974 original by Al Green.
The project is out on May 17 (available to pre-order here) and the latest taster sees Girl In Red put her own signature spin on the track, incorporating playful instrumentation and impressive vocals.
It also arrives on the heels of her brand new album ‘I’m Doing It Again Baby!’, which arrived earlier this month.
“Talking Heads is an iconic band that helped define my identity when I was a teenager and they continue to inspire young people all around the world,” the singer said in a new statement. “Being a part of this tribute is so sick and I’m super grateful I was given the opportunity. Talking Heads forever!!!!”
Check out the cover below.
The first track from the compilation to be released was Paramore’s version of ‘Burning Down the House’ on January 31. That was the pop-punk band’s first new release since they wiped all of their social media accounts clean, leading to rumours of a split.
Also released is Teezo Touchdown’s take on ‘Making Flippy Floppy’ and Miley Cyrus’ version of ‘Psycho Killer’.
Other artists on the album include The National, Blondshell, The Cavemen, Jean Dawson, Kevin Abstract, The Linda Lindas, Toro y Moi and BADBADNOTGOOD.
The album comes in celebration of the recent re-release of Jonathan Demme’s iconic concert film Stop Making Sense, and is designed to both introduce a new generation of fans to Talking Heads’ music, as well as offer a new interpretation of their tracks for longtime fans.
Find the full tracklist below.
The ‘Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Psycho Killer’ – Miley Cyrus
2. ‘Heaven’ – The National
3. ‘Thank You For Sending Me An Ange’l – Blondshell
4. ‘Found A Job’ – The Linda Lindas
5. ‘Slippery People’ – Él Mató a un Policía Motorizado
6. ‘Burning Down The House’ – Paramore
7. ‘Life During Wartime’ – Dj Tunez
8. ‘Making Flippy Floppy’ – Teezo Touchdown
9. ‘Swamp’ – Jean Dawson
10. ‘What A Day That Was’ – The Cavemen.
11. ‘This Must Be The Place’ (Naive Melody) – BADBADNOTGOOD (Feat. Norah Jones)
12. ‘Once In A Lifetime’ – Kevin Abstract
13. ‘Genius Of Love’ – Toro y Moi (feat Brijean)
14. ‘Girlfriend Is Better’ – girl in red
15. ‘Take Me To The River’ – Lorde
16. ‘Crosseyed And Painless’ – Chicano Batman (Feat. Money Mark)
More recently, David Byrne shared his cover of Paramore’s ‘Hard Times’, ahead of its exclusive Record Store Day vinyl release.
The track was available as an “extremely limited” 12” vinyl release for the annual event, with Paramore’s version of ‘Burning Down the House’ on the B-side.
Elsewhere, during a recent interview, David Byrne said he felt “removed” from the experience of re-watching himself onscreen in Stop Making Sense. “It’s almost as if I’m watching a character,” he explained.
Talking Heads drummer Chris Franz hinted last October that there could be a further reunion for the group in the future. The musician participated in a Q&A with his former bandmates at TIFF the previous month, marking their first public appearance together in over 20 years.
However, Tina Weymouth said that Talking Heads were “just savouring the moment” while discussing a potential comeback: “We’re so happy that it’s resulted in this wonderful thing that’s lasted 40 years. And we’re not really looking too far into the future.”
As for Girl In Red, her latest album was given a three-star review from NME, and described as “fun and sweet, if a little bland”.
“There’s not much to chew on for the majority of the record, as Girl In Red plays it safe… the majority of the record sees her sitting safely within the parameters of her previous sound. There’s some flicker of musical expansion, but no commitment,” it read.
“It’s a pristine pop record that takes few risks and leaves little room for error – though it might be more interesting if it did.”
The singer also spoke to NME as part of the In Conversation series ahead of the release, where she recalled the inspiration behind the LP. “I feel like on this album, I just want to have fun and I just want to do things because they’re fun,” she said.
“And also sonically, I was like – this is fucking cool. It’s fucking sick. I’m just going with my intuition mostly. I can’t read scores or notes, I don’t know anything musically other than what I feel.”
