As rumored ’round the pop gossip internet, Brit heartthrobs the 1975 premiered a non-album single called “By Your Side” today, and it turns out it’s a cover of Sade’s 2000 original. The new song is part of a charity effort supporting the U.K. organization War Child (as is a new Brandi Carlile covers album, also announced today).
Speaking to BBC Radio 1 host MistaJam, 1975 frontman Matt Healy discussed the relationship between classic Sade and several big albums from 2016: “If you listen to Kanye, if you listen to Bon Iver, if you listen to Francis and the Lights, moments on that Chance record—that song, [Sade’s] “By Your Side,” has so much of that kind of identity. When I was listening to it, I was listening to it with this real kind of sense of modernity and thinking, ‘Wow, this is still really, really forward-thinking.'”
Healy also touched on plans for the next 1975 album and the band’s desire to collaborate with Skepta. Hear the 1975’s “By Your Side” via BBC Radio 1, and compare to Sade’s original below.
