Everything Is Recorded, the project of producer and XL Recordings founder Richard Russell, has united Bill Callahan and Noah Cyrus to perform what may be the most unlikely duet of the decade so far. It came about after Russell posed a question to Callahan during sessions for a new Everything Is Recorded album: “Who would you most like to write a song for?” Noah Cyrus, the actor-musician sister of Miley, was the answer, and “Porcupine Tattoo” is the result. The recording features Callahan’s vocal demo with toplines from Cyrus recorded at Los Angeles’
Chateau Marmont. Check it out below.
A 7″ single from XL and Drag City will follow the digital release, with “Porcupine Tattoo” backed by another Russell-Callahan collaboration, “Norm”—a tribute to the late Norm Macdonald. Russell, who previously snagged Callahan’s song “I’m New Here” for the Gil-Scott Heron covers album of the same name, has released a string of album-length compositions in the past year, named for each seasonal solstice and equinox.