With the tenth anniversary addition of her seminal studio album 'epic', dubbed 'epic Ten', dropping later this month, Sharon Van Etten has now unveiled the next cover version set to feature on her forthcoming release.
The new rendition of 'Don't Do It' is supplied by the incredible Courtney Barnett and Vagabon, who have added their own distinct flavour to the single, and follows from the previously shared offerings 'DsharpG' (By Shamir), 'Save Yourself' (By Lucinda Williams), 'Peace Signs' (By IDLES), and 'A Crime' (By Big Red Machine) in previewing the new collection, which is out on the 16th April via Ba Da Bing Records.
Speaking about the track, Courtney Barnett said, “I was so honoured that Sharon invited me to be part of this project. She is one of my favourite songwriters and such an inspiring artist, performer & encouraging friend to me. This song "Don’t Do It" is powerful and personal, I really didn’t know how to make it my own, infact I tried to pick a different song and convinced myself I wasn’t up to the task, but Sharon was quietly supportive the whole time. in the process of talking vulnerably about the lyrics with her, I had to delve deeper into what the song meant for me. It’s fascinating to hear an artist ruminate on a song that is ten years old and see how it/they have evolved. I think it’s a beautiful thing to celebrate the journey of a song.
"I went into the studio a few days after Melbourne lockdown lifted. Stella Mozgawa played drums and I played guitar and we built the song from there. A week later I was talking to my friend Laetitia (Vagabon) we were saying how we should collaborate more. I nervously asked if she’d be interested in singing with me on this song and I’m so glad she said yes, her voice sounds incredible and really made the song feel complete. After nearly a year of solitude, I was so grateful for this opportunity to create something different with people that I greatly admire. And it seemed perfectly strange that the last time I was on a stage pre-Covid was with these three people.”
While Vagabon added, “Courtney and I found that we have a beautiful collaborating chemistry when we made our cover of "Reason to Believe", which came out earlier this year. So when CB asked me to join her in singing "Don't Do It" by the inimitable Sharon Van Etten, I was thrilled! "Don't do it" is one of my favorite tracks off 'EPIC' and it was such a pleasure to do a version of it with Courtney.”
Check out their version of 'Don't Do It' in the player below.
