Robert covers The Twilight Sad

Robert is covering The Twilight Sad's 'There's a Girl in the Corner'. Why? When? How? More details soon.
(Thanks Randy and Scott)

Update (05/22/15): And here's the full version.



Update (05/12/15): The Twilight Sad premiered their new video at Drowned in Sound today, and talked about Robert's cover:

"We are all massive fans of The Cure. They are one of the biggest influences on our band. We found out Robert Smith was a fan of our band through Stuart [Braithwaite] from Mogwai. Just after the release of our second album he had sent Robert an email saying there was a band from Scotland that he thought he'd like. Robert responded saying he was already a fan. We sent Robert the new record and he replied "IT IS BEAUTIFUL". We knew we wanted to have a special B-Side for the single, so Andy asked Robert if he would be up for doing something with us. Amazingly, he said yes and covered "There's A Girl In The Corner". Hearing someone that is basically one of our musical heroes cover one of our songs and sing the words that I wrote in my bedroom is one of the most amazing things that's happened to us."

And this from XS Noize:

Xs Noize: How did it come about for Robert Smith to cover your song?

JG: We know Stewart from Mogwai who toured with the Cure years ago and he stayed in contact with Robert. On our second record Stewart emailed Robert to say there’s this band I think you will like, I’ll send you the records if you want? Robert got back to him saying he was already a fan and already had everything. Stewart showed us the email and we were like fucking hell!!
So Andy got Robert’s email address to send him the new record when it was finished. When we were thinking of what we wanted to do with the next single Andy emailed him and asked if he would be interested in doing it with us and he said aye!

Xs Noize: I have heard a snippet of the song online and it sounds really good.

JG: I don’t know what we expected to come back, if he might do an acoustic thing or something, but he has went full out production on it. It’s fucking crazy to hear him sing our song, I don’t think we have come to terms with it yet to be honest. He has been really nice about it. We are going to meet him soon which is going to be cool, he seems like a really nice guy as well. To have him endorse what we do is fucking huge for us, it’s absolutely massive it is pretty exciting. The song is getting premiered in the middle of May, so it will be interesting to see what happens with it.

Xs Noize: Do you think you will get to perform the song with Robert?

JG: If he wanted to then of course, Andy might sack me as a singer and get him in (laughs). It would be amazing but he has already given us so much. But if it could happen we would jump at the chance to do it. He sings the song a bit different from me but I found myself at one of the gigs repeating the way he sings it by mistake. Brendan our keyboard played said “Did you notice you did that?” I said I did but I didn’t even mean it, it was mental.

People have got to know the band just from that, they have been writing to us saying they have discovered us by people it posting on their Facebook or whatever. If we win more fans that’s great but just having that is probably the highlight of our careers, it’s an amazing thing to have and is something we would never have expected.

Update (05/08/15): Now available for pre-ordering at Rough Trade.

Update (04/20/15): The Cure's website, Facebook, and Twitter have been updated with the news. Also, all of Robert's share of the proceeds from the single will be donated to Amaze. Once again, thank you so much, Robert, for always giving back and helping others!

Update (04/19/15): Pre-ordering for the limited edition 7" is now open at the band's website. And there should be a digital download available on June 15th as well, according to the band's email newsletter.

Credits: Lyrics James Alexander Graham. Music Andy MacFarlane. Voices & instruments by Robert Smith. Engineered, Produced, and Mixed by Robert Smith at Homestudio. Assisted by Bunny Lake.

Update (04/07/15): Confirmed at XFM -  "The Twilight Sad have confirmed details for their next single, with It Never Was The Same set for a 15 June release on FatCat Records.

In exciting news for fans of the Scottish group, the double A-side 7" will also see Robert Smith cover one of the band's other songs from their album Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave.

The Cure frontman will perform his own version of There's A Girl In The Corner. A 30-second preview of Smith's suitably atmospheric cover can be found here .

Pre-orders for the limited edition 7" will open on 13 April at the band's own website. 

The band's UK and Ireland tour continues for the next few weeks, before a raft of festival dates for the summer."
(Thanks @SleazyMartinez)

Also confirmed on The Twilight Sad's website and Facebook.

Articles about this: NME / Uncut / Sopitas / Muzikalia / Sound of Violence / Live4Ever / DIY

From @thetwilightsad (March 15th, 2015) : "We're 1hr into our all night drive to Austin from Phoenix. I'm currently listening to the most amazing thing that's happened to our band. We can't believe it's actually happened and can't wait to tell you about it. When I say it's the biggest thing that's happened for our band it's a an understatement."

From The Scotsman (Oct. 18th, 2014): "From Shoegaze to a kind of motoric New Wave to the similarity of recent comeback track There’s a Girl in the Corner to The Cure, they combine an often overwhelming emotional onslaught with strident accessibility.

“That’ll do us,” says Graham upon hearing The Cure comparison, speaking on behalf of his absent bandmates Andy MacFarlane (guitar) and Mark Devine (drums). “They’re brilliant, they’re one of the bands each of us has always looked up to. Stuart Braithwaite [guitarist with Glasgow’s Mogwai, friends of and de facto mentors to The Twilight Sad] once told me he gave Robert Smith some of our music, and Robert told him ‘I’ve heard them already’. Graham has sent the new album to Smith, and received a three-word response: “It is beautiful.”

From DIY (Oct. 27th, 2014): “Robert Smith said he was fan – that’s fucking ace. And I wouldn’t swap all we’ve achieved and all we’ve been through for anything else.”

And here's The Twilight Sad covering 'Inbetween Days' in Aug. 2011. (Thanks @TornUpPraise)