Lorde Reimagines “Take Me to the River” for Talking Heads’ Tribute Album: Stream

In January, A24 Music shared Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” as the lead single from their forthcoming Talking Heads tribute album. Now, another teaser single from the compilation has arrived: Lorde’s cover of “Take Me to the River.”

Originally written by Al Green, “Take Me to the River” was a bit of an unlikely Talking Heads cut, since David Byrne was apprehensive about recording a cover. Nonetheless, the band’s 1978 version made it onto their album More Songs About Buildings and Food, and has since become a beloved slice of their inventive sound.

Lorde has accompanied her cover with a lengthy note in which she reminisces about her first time hearing Talking Heads and the impact it had on her creatively. You can read it in full below.

Titled Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, the full 16-track tribute album is due at a later date, but no specific details have been shared at this time. The project was organized by A24 after the success of their theatrical re-release of Talking Heads’ seminal concert movie, Stop Making Sense, last year, and will feature contributions from The National, Miley Cyrus, The Linda Lindas, Toro y Moi, Kevin Abstract, BADBADNOTGOOD, Chicano Batman, and more. Cyrus recently performed a cover of “Psycho Killer” during a stripped back set at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, hinting that she may be covering the song for the album.

Meanwhile, Lorde has been laying relatively low recently. After debuting some new music last year (and revealing how she took mushrooms and felt God), this is her first release of 2024. In January, Olivia Rodrigo said that Lorde’s song “Royals” changed the trajectory of her life.

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