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Hear Jason Lytle, Sea Of Bees Cover Each Other's Work

Courtesy of the artists

According to legend, once in each millennium, the Music Gods come together and, after much debate, agree to bestow a single magical gift upon the world — a song or album or project so breathtaking, it leaves throngs of people weeping in the streets at its splendor and forever changes the way we hear music. That time is now, as Jason Lytle and Sea of Bees have opted to cover each other's songs.

Okay, fine: Maybe it's not that special. But it's still cool when a couple of your favorite artists dig each other's music and want to work together.

In this case, former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle fell for Sea of Bees' 2010 debut Songs for the Ravens and thought he might like to cover the track "Won't Be Long" for an album of his own. After Julie Ann Bee heard Lytle's version, she decided to cover "Get Up and Go," from his latest new Dept. Of Disappearance, and poof! The 7" release was born.

In an email — obtained via a third party, so as not to violate his restraining order against me — Lytle writes, "In Jule's music, I hear (and appreciate) the simplicity, the honesty... and the central valley of California," where Lytle is from.

Also via email, Julie Ann Bee tells us she "felt like Jason simply said it: 'Get up and go.' And it's not easy to do when you come from a dark place. I wanted to sing this, 'cause it was a simple message leading to a better place."

The "Won't Be Long"/"Get Up And Go" 7" was produced by John Baccigaluppi at The Hangar Studios in Sacramento, Calif. It's being co-released by Crossbill Records and Off the Air Records on Black Friday (a.k.a. Record Store Day) this Nov. 23. If you're the sort of inhuman monster who doesn't want to support independent record stores, you can also pre-order it.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.