London Grammar have performed a moving, piano-led cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’. Check it out below.
The indie pop trio – comprised of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major – broke out the rendition of the summer pop anthem while appearing on the BBC Radio 1 Piano Sessions yesterday (July 7).
While on the show, hosted by Sian Eleri, the band spoke about their upcoming LP ‘The Greatest Love’, which is set for release on September 13 and will mark their fourth studio album.
“I think album number four draws on the themes I always write about, love, relationships, losing versions of yourself,” Reid explained during the interview. “But I think I do it in a more celebratory, up-front way which is nice. There are some moments on this album where we’ve really gone for it and it’s big and colourful. I think lyrically it’s a bit more direct.”
From there, the band went on to perform a somewhat unconventional cover of the Sabrina Carpenter hit ‘Espresso’.
“Some of her songs are just absolute bangers. They are incredible and I love her music videos and her whole vibe,” Reid told the host, explaining why they wanted to cover the pop hit. “It’s like the pop music that I grew up with, to be honest, so it was really fun.”
She also went on to add that the lyric “I’m working late/ ‘Cause I’m a singer” was her favourite to perform because she finds it to be “a really beautiful line”. “It’s so catchy and such an earworm. It’s in my head in the middle of the night when I wake up. She’s genius,” she said.
Check out the cover below.
During the discussion part of the show, the frontwoman also went on to reveal that she tried to avoid making the song sound too much like her own band, and instead wanted to explore the original approach taken by Carpenter.
“I tried not to [make it too London Grammar]. I tried to lean into Sabrina’s world, vocally,” she said. “Obviously with Dot’s piano playing it immediately becomes more London Grammar but it was really fun for me to lean into somebody’s world a bit more.”
Elsewhere, the band also spoke about their new single from the forthcoming album, ‘Into Gold’, before performing the track on the show.
“It was written on the piano, and if it’s been written on the piano originally it’ll be quite straightforward,” said the vocalist of the approach taken to the songwriting process of the single. “It wasn’t too hard… but we did write a tricky ending which we almost regretted.”
Pre-order ‘The Greatest Love’ here, and check out the performance of the new single below.
The appearance on the BBC radio show comes days after the UK indie pop band announced a brief UK arena tour for later this year. Three dates have been confirmed: the OVO Hydro in Glasgow (November 11), the AO Arena in Manchester (12) and The O2 in London (14).
These will follow the previously announced European gigs in Belgium, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Berlin earlier that month. Tickets for the forthcoming UK concerts go on general sale at 10am BST on Friday (July 12) – you’ll be able to buy yours here.
‘The Greatest Love’ – the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Californian Soil’ – has already been previewed with the singles ‘House’, ‘Kind Of Man’ and the aforementioned ‘Into Gold’.
Speaking to NME in April 2023, band member Dot Major teased that London Grammar were “definitely getting there” with their next full-length project. “We’re all really excited, because it’s been a little while – as it always is with us,” he explained.
Guitarist Dan Rothman told NME in July 2022 that the trio had “been working on” their fourth album throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, London Grammar previously said in an interview with NME that their next LP could be their “best one yet”. At the time, frontwoman Hannah Reid said it would contain “a lot of deep, philosophical questions about life, relationships and love”.
The post Watch London Grammar’s piano-led cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ appeared first on NME.
