Kevin Abstract is always full of surprises. The former Brockhampton leader and prolific solo artist recently toured Australia and New Zealand supporting Lorde, and during his time in Oceania, he paid a visit to Triple J's studio to record a contribution to their Like A Version covers series. His chosen song is "Goodbye Horses," the darkwave classic by Q Lazzarus made famous by The Silence Of The Lambs. Abstract was accompanied by two violins and two cellos, and he read the lyrics off his phone — partially because he thinks the Marty Mauser picture on his lockscreen looks cool, he said in a behind-the-scenes video.
"I chose this song just because I love it so much," Abstract said, explaining that while he loves so many songs, he doesn't like singing all of them. "I tried to take it to a new territory emotionally and color-palette-wise. It's just a new shape for that song. It's a new way to hear it."
Abstract also deployed the string ensemble as he debuted his own new song "The Feeling," which has big late 2000s/early 2010s energy and reminds me that Brockhampton formed on the Kanye To The forum. "I was trying to write a song that was about me being confused, searching for answers and being ok with not receiving answers," Abstract told Triple J. "And being OK with not playing God all the time, and letting it be what it is."
Check out those videos below.
Perhaps "The Feeling" will appear on Honey In My Hair, the new album Abstract has been teasing. He posted on Instagram before the Lorde tour that he's been working on it in his new home base of Austin while maintaining his sobriety and enjoying Jeni's Ice Cream. Now that he's back, in another post he said he's finishing the project up when not watching movies; he's already seen 53 this year so far, including revisiting Brockhampton's Saturation documentary: "pretty wild that stuff is coming up on a clean 10 years, what a beautiful story tho." He's also writing a movie of his own, he noted, mysteriously.
The Lorde tour was a big deal for Abstract. He posted this message to her on Instagram before their travels got underway:
Absolutely blown away to be joining you on this tour. I’ve been holding this quietly since 2014.. a real dream, the kind you don’t say out loud in case it disappears. The way you think. It’s shaped how culture moves, whether folks realize it or not. There’s vulnerability in your work that never feels fragile. It feels precise. I want to bring that same presence to everything to every night. Fully there. Fully honest. With no armor. Thank you for continuing to show what it looks like to push boundaries while we’re still alive. Grateful. Truly.
That's cute as hell, and so is this pic of Abstract and Lorde hanging out.
