Before bringing this year’s Night Fiction to Philadelphia last week for a mesmerizing performance at Boot & Saddle, Irish guitarist Cian Nugent met up with Lansdowne, PA native Steve Gunn at New York’s Union Pool. NYC Taper was there to capture their collaboration on the slow-burning “Year of the Snake,” calling it the show’s “piece de resistance” and noting the intuitive chemistry between the frequent tour mates. The song eases in with tranquil, desert-psych fingerpicking before subtly shifting into a Rolling Stones-esque rock tune, an apt display of both Nugent and Gunn’s wide range of influences.

Gunn will release a follow-up to 2014’s Way Out Weather on Matador later this year. Check out “Year of the Snake” below and read our interview with Nugent here.