Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords’ Alexandra Sauser-Monnig are both members of Mountain Man and they’ve now come together for a new band called the A’s. Their debut album, Fruit, is out July 15 via Psychic Hotline. It features covers of folk songs, lullabies, ballads, and more. They’ve shared their rendition of “He Needs Me”—the Harry Nilsson and Shelley Duvall classic from 1980’s Popeye—with a video directed by Meath and Spencer Kelly and art-directed by Sauser-Monnig. Watch it and hear their version of the DeZurik Sisters’ “Why I’m Grieving” below.
Produced with Nick Sanborn, the album features contributions from Jenn Wasner (who sings on the album’s sole original song “When I Die”), plus Sam Gendel, Gabriel Kahane, and Alan Good Parker.
Fruit:
01 He Needs Me
02 Swing and Turn Jubilee
03 Wedding Dress
04 Why I’m Grieving
05 When the Bloom Is on the Sage
06 My Poncho Pony
07 Go to Sleep My Darling Baby
08 Copper Kettle
09 When I Die
10 Buckeye Jim