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See Arctic Monkeys Strip Down ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’

arctic monkeys, alex turner, am, why'd you only call me when you're high?

Back in September, Queens of the Stone Age took over the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge to play an acoustic cover of “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” by their little British bros the Arctic Monkeys. SPIN cover star Josh Homme led a quiet rendition of the booty-call-and-response track, one of many highlights off of the Monkeys’ Mercury Prize-nominated fifth album, AM. Now, Arctic Monkeys members Alex Turner and drummer Matt Helders have shared their own stripped-bare take on the song, by way of a recent in-studio performance filmed in New York City’s Avatar Studios. The low-key version holds onto the original’s falsetto pleas and strummy strut, but peppers the tune with careful xylophone plinks, lending the long-distance kiss-off a new kind of delicacy. Watch the video above (via Stereogum), compare it to QOTSA’s interpretation, and then read SPIN’s exclusive, in-depth interview with Alex Turner.