After announcing their upcoming EP, Covers, Switchfoot have shared a new track from that project. And this time they put their spin on Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall,” off of the band’s latest album, Father of the Bride.
Switchfoot stay true to the bones of the song but with the addition of Jon Foreman’s grittier vocals. Along with the song, Foreman explained why they decided to share this specific tune as opposed to any others this week.
In the caption for the video, he wrote:
During this difficult week, we have been wrestling with whether or not we should release new music — trying to listen more than speak.
As an American, there are so many reasons to mourn, to be angry, to lament. There is so much that we need to change. Let’s take a good, long look at who we are and who we’ve been. Let’s promise each other that we will continue to fight for a better version of America. A better version of ourselves.
Music quite often says what words cannot. Singing into the storms of life, music provides a scaffolding for our souls to reach for something beyond ourselves.
And so we decided to sing. This is our attempt to do what we do best — to sing into the storm. Our new song is a cover of Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall,” a song that feels incredibly relevant to the week that we’ve had as a nation.
“Harmony Hall” takes inspiration from former slave plantations named Harmony Hall. For me, this is a song that acknowledges that if we are to change our future, we need to first confess our past.
I confess my fears. I confess my silence. I want to live a life that transcends these fears and reaches out in love towards justice. To all my black brothers and sisters out there, I stand with you. I kneel with you. I weep with you. I mourn with you. I long for justice alongside you.
“The stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness.” America, we need to do better than this.
Switchfoot previously dropped their cover of “Swim Good” by Frank Ocean.
Listen to Switchfoot’s cover of Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall” below.
Covers releases on June 19.
