Angélique Kidjo Shares First Track From Her Talking Heads Covers Album Feat. Ezra Koenig, Blood Orange, & More

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Angélique Kidjo Shares First Track From Her Talking Heads Covers Album Feat. Ezra Koenig, Blood Orange, & More

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Angélique Kidjo has covered Talking Heads’ 1980 album Remain In Light in concert and now a studio version of her tribute is being released. She tapped Ezra Koenig, Blood Orange, Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen, bassist Pino Palladino, and more to work on the LP, which is produced by Jeff Bhasker. It’s due out this summer, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, Kidjo spoke about what made her fall in love with Remain In Light so many years ago:

I remember vividly every time the music came in, I said, “There’s something African to it” … Some of my peers [at jazz school] said, “Aw, come on. Shut up. This is not African. It’s too sophisticated for you.” I’m like, “OK, whatever you say” … “It might be rock & roll, but there’s something African to it.” I’m a very rhythmic person. Music is part of my heartbeat and every part of my body. This had an African touch to it.

According to the article, Kidjo’s version of Remain In Light will feature “new vocals in African languages that respond to Byrne’s lyrics.” Today, Kidjo shared her breathtaking, rhythmic take on “Born Under Punches.” Listen to it below.

Remain In Light is out 6/8.

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