Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw are two alt-rock lifers who have made some absolutely classic music. By the time Donelly became an alt-rock star with her early-'90s trio Belly, she'd already been a founding member of Throwing Muses and the Breeders. Chris Brokaw was the drummer for slowcore pioneers Codeine and the guitarist for the always-underrated indie rock band Come, and he's been a part of tons of other projects over the years. Donelly recently joined Gang Of Four onstage at their farewell tour and teamed with Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz to cover the Kinks. Brokaw just got back together with post-rock supergroup Pullman to release their first album in 25 years. Now, Donelly and Brokaw are making music together.
Last year, Donelly and Brokaw got together to record The Undone Is Done Again, a new EP that reimagines medieval and early music through their own particular lens. The opening track, for instance, is their take on the Gregorian chant "Novus Annus Aduiit." Donelly sings in unearthly Latin while Brokaw plays spindly, dreamy guitar. It's just that voice and that guitar, both heard through waves of reverb, and it's enchanting. Here's what Donelly says about the project's origin:
Having always been a big fan of all of Chris Brokaw’s music, bands, and projects, I asked him if we might team up to play a song or two for our mutual friend Hilken Mancini’s annual holiday event last year. He had the unusual and very cool idea to perform a medieval carol, in Latin, something far outside of anything I’d done before.
And here's Brokaw:
I’d been listening to the Norwegian vocal group Medieval Trio and kind of on a lark suggested that we perform a medieval Christmas piece. I felt like we immediately came upon a new language, sound, dialect. It sounded more like Bedouin music to me than anything particularly Christian," or much like anything we were ostensibly drawing from. I’ve always loved Tanya’s music, but her voice here is, I think, on an entirely new level.
Below, check out "Novus Annus Aduiit" and the EP's tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Novvus Annis Adiit"
02 "Sainte Nicholaes"
03 "In Hoc Anni Circulo"
04 "Plaudat Letitia"
The EP The Undone Is Done Again is out 4/17, Record Store Day, on Fire Records. The duo will tour the US this spring, but they haven't announced dates yet. Read our We've Got A File On You interview with Tanya Donelly here.
