[MP3] new Ruby Suns song, plus Beatles / El Guincho covers

My favorite band from New Zealand, The Ruby Suns, have been keeping busy since releasing their second LP Sea Lion earlier this year. Somehow between touring, resting, and self-discovering, they’ve managed to pop into the recording studio now and again, churning out at least three gems. NOt only that, but they’ve decided to give them away for free:

[MP3] The Ruby Suns – Birthday (Beatles Cover)

M.I.A. friend and fellow musician Esau Mwamwaya helps out on one of the most strangely satisfying Beatles covers I’ve heard in a long time. It’s nice to hear the fab foursome re-done in a style that they didn’t have a hand in helping create. The branches of music stretch even further than Lennon could have imagined… I’m sure this cover would have made him proud.

[MP3] The Ruby Suns – Palmitos Park (El Guincho Cover)

I can’t even begin to describe how great this is. Ryan (singer) picked apart Guinch’s Portuguese Spanish, creating a pitch-perfect English translation that reinvigorates the song for all those who previously dug the “tune” or “sound” without knowing the point of it all — the slower tempo creates an even more hypnotic vibe, while Guinch inches closer to Panda Bear than ever before.

[MP3] The Ruby Suns – Don’t Trust The Dirty Fruit

This is a new song pulled from an upcoming charity album from The Tribe’s Bruce Parry, called Survival. If the Ruby Suns just flirted with afro-beat on their last album, this song sees them diving headfirst into territory that Paul Simon (or his band of 21st century followers, Vampire Weekend) never fully hit. Is this outright submersion? Definitely. But sometimes you’ve gotta drown before you can breathe.