Piling on the anticipation for the release of her new album next month, Lianne La Havas has just dropped a cover of a Radiohead fan-favourite. “Weird Fishes”, renamed from the original In Rainbows cut “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”, is the fourth single the pop soul singer has released from her upcoming self-titled album, her first full-length LP since 2015’s Blood. Co-produced with Beni Giles, this new track follows on from the lead single “Bittersweet” in February, as well as the pair of songs that arrived last month “Paper Thin” and “Can’t Fight” (the latter shared production credits with Mura Masa).

Lianne La Havas (born Lianne Barnes) is herself among those fans who have ensured “Weird Fishes” is a staple of Radiohead live setlists, making no bones of her long standing love affair with the track. In an interview feature for Dutch radio station 3FM Gemist, Barnes named “Weird Fishes” as one of five essential tracks that define her musical identity, and she has repeatedly covered the song live throughout her career, most notably using it to close her 2013 Glastonbury performance (embed above).  

But now after what has been the part of a decade-long love affair, Barnes has finally put to tape her own spin on the Radiohead classic. Lulling you into a false sense of familiarity, Barnes’ version mimics Phil Selway’s frantic drum work for all of three seconds before the floor drops out, replacing his driving percussion for a beat that takes its languid cues from hip hop. Gone too are the arpeggiated guitar licks (that lend the original half of its title) in favour of sparse keyboard chords and an infectious bassline groove, that at the three-minute mark give way to a stunning acapella harmony: “I get eaten by the worms/And weird fishes/Picked over by the worms/And weird fishes”.

Barnes revealed in a press release for the song that it had been the first recorded for the new album, “a kind of test song” that had helped shape the direction of her latest record. “I had the most wonderful, nourishing experience recording [Weird Fishes]”, she explained, “that’s where I decided: the rest of the album needs to be like this. It’s got to be my band, and I’ve got to do it in London, whenever people have time”. Listen to the official audio below: 

Set for release via Nonesuch Records on the 17th of July, the description on the label’s website describes the album as spanning the arc of a relationship, citing sonic influences as diverse as Milton Nascimento and Destiny’s Child. “What plays a big role in the album is the idea of the life cycle of plants and nature”, she says, “equating this journey with a seasonal thing that blooms, thrives, goes away, and comes back even stronger”. “Weird Fishes” had been the perfect cover to feature on the album, as well as being the entire record’s conceptual starting block since, as Barnes puts it, “this song is very close to my heart, and in the story of the record, the lyrics express exactly where I was”. 

For obvious reasons you won’t be able to catch Barnes perform the song live this summer, but to promote the release of her new album she will be playing a livestream concert at London’s Roundhouse on the 15th of July. Buy tickets to watch the gig here, and preorder Lianne La Havas through Nonesuch’s website.