Vulfpeck recently announced their seventh studio album, Mr. Finish Line, due out November 7, 2017. Following three sold-out shows at Brooklyn Steel last weekend, the band has flown overseas for another sold-out run through Europe starting tonight in Paris. In celebration of such, they’ve released the first track from Mr. Finish Line, dubbed “Birds of a Feather, We Rock Together.” The track, now available on streaming services, is a cover of “Birds of a Feather” by Canadian songwriter Mocky, and marks the first recorded vocal collaboration between Antwaun Stanley, Theo Katzman, and Joey Dosik. The track is accompanied by a new music video, in true Vulfpeck fashion, and sees the band recording in the backyard. The video looks and sounds to show Jack Stratton to be playing pancakes as drums. Leaning more towards R&B than previous recordings, “Birds of a Feather, We Rock Together” reveals a new side of the funk/pop quartet. Marking their first true cover, the recording undeniably provides a great taste of what’s to come in their 2017 release: smooth grooves, angelic vocals, and low-volume t’chunes. The funk and soul remain strong in the previously released announcement video, which you can also sample at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Finish Line is promised to include “10 Indi Bangers from the band that recorded Newsbeat,” a nod to their 2014 Fugue State. Featured guests on the album include: frequent vocal contributors Antwaun Stanley and Christine Hucal, legendary session guitarist David T. Walker, Danish vocalist Coco O., legendary session drummer James Gadson, funk bassist/singer/songwriter and member of Parliament Funkadelic Bootsy Collins, drummer for Prince during The New Power Generation era Michael Bland, Game Winner keyboardist/vocalist Charles Jones, vocalist Theo Katzman, keyboardist/saxophonist Joey Dosik, and guitarist/honorary 5th member Cory Wong.
Listen to the harmonic goodness of “Birds of a Feather, We Rock Together” below:
Now, listen to the original Mocky version:
This isn’t the first time Vulfpeck covered Mocky, as they’ve performed “Time Inflation (Message to R2)” at least once in 2015. Video by Allegra Rosenberg: