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Oct 22, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Dean Wareham and Cheval Sombre

Dean Wareham (of Luna, Galaxie 500, and Dean & Britta) has teamed up with one-man band Cheval Sombre (aka Chris Porpora) for the collaborative album Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre, which is due out this Friday (October 26) via Wareham’s Double Feature label. Previously they shared a trailer for the album and its first single, a version of the folk standard “Wayfaring Stranger,” via a video for the track. Now they have shared another track from the album, a cover of The Magnetic Fields’ “Grand Canyon.” Listen below.

Porpora had this to say about the cover in a press release: “‘Grand Canyon’ - and much of [Stephin] Merritt’s work - has always evoked a feeling of the West for me. That song was added to the list after many of the others, and it was instantly clear how perfectly it would sit beside the other songs.”

A previous press release said Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre is “an album of western-themed songs” and also calls it a “western dream pop album.” The tracklist shows that it’s also a covers record. It was recorded in downtown Los Angeles at Palmetto Recordings with producer Jason Quever (Papercuts, Beach House). The backing band included Wareham’s wife and bandmate in Dean & Britta and Luna, Britta Phillips, along with Anthony LaMarca (The War on Drugs) and Will Halsey (Sugarcandy Mountain).

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