You've probably heard a variation of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" at some point in your life. Pittsburgh's Buffalo Rose takes the popular track in a stunning new direction on its latest EP, Borrowed & Blue, in which the folk-band mashes up "Seven Nation Army" with Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)."
Borrowed & Blue, due May 29 via Misra Records, was recorded live as the Buffalo Rose band members took turns around a single microphone — each song recorded in one take. (And no worries, it was before social distancing.) Don't believe they could do it in one take? Check out the music video for their "Seven Nation Army/Sweet Dreams" mashup, which came out today.
The combination of Lucy Clabby, Rosanna Spindler, and Shane McLaughlin's stirring voices and the layered instrumental perfection of McLaughlin (acoustic guitar), Jason Rafalak (upright bass), Bryce Rabideau (mandolin), Malcolm Inglis and (dobro) makes it seem as though the song(s) are a Buffalo Rose original.
Also on the forthcoming EP is a cover of Madonna's "Borderline," Buffalo Rose's 2019 single, "Rocketship," "The Journey" from their 2018's album The Soil and the Seed, and tracks "Momma Have Mercy" and "Cigarettes and Whiskey" from the band's 2016 EP, Red Wagon.
Spindler replaced Mariko Reid as a vocalist in the fall of 2018, so Borrowed & Blue will sound different from the Buffalo Rose of the past. And again, the tracks are one-take live recordings around a shared mic.
A release party is set for the same day as the EP drop, at Bloomfield Liedertafel Singing Society (410 S. Mathilda St., Bloomfield), should the quarantine be over by then.
