Today, British indie-pop outfit Wild Beasts drop their fourth album, Present Tense, via Domino Records. Frontman Hayden Thorpe told FACT that “there were no singular inspirations for Present Tense, but rather we embraced the chaos of sensory overload experienced today.” That same mentality guided the band as they put together an exclusive FACT Mix. Before the 27-minute mix touches on Cocteau Twins, Talk Talk, and Kate Bush singing “Sexual Healing”, Wild Beasts slipped in their own cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”.
An ambient synth drones off behind the band’s sleepy, ethereal harmonies, resulting in a more haunting version than Cohen’s original. Take a listen to the whole mix below (the cover starts around 0:50, though the intro flows into it nicely), and check out the tracklist underneath. Oh, and did I mention it was all recorded on a telephone? Chomp on that.
Wild Beasts’ FACT Mix Tracklist:
John Tavener – “The Lamb”
Wild Beasts – “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” (Leonard Cohen cover)
Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd – “Why do you Love me”
Siegfried Sasson – “The Dug Out, Everyone Sang”
Haddaway – “What is Love”
The Blue Nile – “Over the Hillside”
Lil B – “Flowers Rise” (instrumental)
The Books – “Be Good to Them Always”
Burzum – “Tour Around the Transcendental Columns of Singularity”
Shirley Collins – “Brigg Fair”
Allan Holdsworth – “Tokyo Dream” (live)
Oneohtrix Point Never – “Child Soldier”
Kate Bush – “Sexual Healing” (phone recording)
Talk Talk – “I Believe In You”
Cocteau Twins – “Cherry-Coloured Funk”
