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Wolf Alice share cover of The Roches’ ‘Hammond Song’ featuring Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming and Bria Salmena
Wolf Alice have released a cover of The Roches’ ‘Hammond Song’ with Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean and singer-songwriter Bria Salmena. The collaboration was recorded during sessions for the band’s latest album, ‘The Clearing’, and reflects the three-part vocal dynamic associated with The Roches’ original version.
The track is the second release from Wolf Alice’s forthcoming digital package of B-sides, following ‘Gospel Oak’; the full collection is due on 21 August, one year after ‘The Clearing’. Ellie Rowsell said the band had long admired the original’s guitar and vocal arrangement, while the trio first performed the cover together at Wolf Alice’s recent Pier 17 show in New York.
In short
- Wolf Alice cover The Roches with Julia Cumming and Bria Salmena.
- It is the second ‘The Clearing’ B-side release.
- The full B-side package arrives on 21 August.
Explained simply
The Roches were an American vocal group celebrated for their close-harmony arrangements, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. 'Hammond Song' is one of their best-known pieces, built entirely around intricate three-part vocal layering.
Wolf Alice are a British indie rock band. To cover this song faithfully, they collaborated with Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean and singer-songwriter Bria Salmena, bringing together three strong vocal voices to match the original's distinctive three-part harmony structure.
When contemporary bands cover music from earlier eras and traditions, they highlight the diverse influences shaping their own work. Such covers also introduce those earlier artists to listeners who may not be familiar with their work.