Whitney announces cover album Candid, releases rendition of The Roches’ “Hammond Song”

Earlier this year, Chicago indie rock outfit Whitney released covers of SWV’s “Rain” and John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” the latter of which featured a guest appearance from Waxahatchee‘s Katie Crutchfield. Today, the band announced Candid, a ten-song cover album out August 14 via Secretly Canadian.

Part of the album announcement included a new cover, this one of The Roches‘ 1979 “Hammond Song.” Whitney drummer and singer Julian Ehrlich said that he and Max Kakacek “discovered ‘Hammond Song’ because Chris Coady sent it to us years ago as a reference for recording when we were making the last Smith Westerns record. It became a song that was always around for us and then we showed it to the rest of the band.”

In addition to the covers already released, Candid will feature Whitney renditions of Kelela‘s “Bank Head,” Moondog’s “High on a Rocky Ledge,” David Byrne’s “Strange Overtones,” Blaze Foley’s “Rainbows and Ridges,” and more. Ehrlich said in a statement, “This could’ve been as simple as saying we really love these songs and we love our bandmates and making a covers record just felt right but it truly became an exploration into how we can evolve as a band going forward.”

Pre-order Candid here, and listen to “Hammond Song” below.