It’s been a decade since adored NYC indie trio Versus released new material, and their comeback album is a welcome return to form. Download “Gone to Earth,” off On the Ones and Threes (out August 3), below.
Like the best of their past songs, “Gone to Earth” is built upon a quiet-loud-quiet aesthetic and vocal interplay between guitarist Richard Baluyut and bassist Fontaine Toups. “One fleeting brush of a blister kiss,” they sing in harmony. “I would trade a fortune for a love like this.”
“‘Gone to Earth’ is based on one of my favorite movies, of the same name, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, about a girl too innocent and pure for the harsh light of the modern — well, 1950! — world,” Baluyut tells SPIN.com. “I am always a sucker for stories like these.”
The song was recorded while Baluyut was “deliriously ill,” and the band ran through a few more takes once he was better, but it’s that first recording that made the final album. “Despite repeated attempts to do it better, I was eventually convinced that the original, sick version was best,” says Baluyut. “I guess I agree now.”
Versus played two shows last weekend in New York and D.C. for Teenbeat Records’ 26th anniversary, and more tour dates are planned for the coming months, as the release of On the Ones and Threes approaches.
LISTEN: Versus, “Gone to Earth” (Download MP3)
What do you think of the new song? Sound off in the comments section.
