To celebrate his birthday, Dustin Payseur of Beach Fossils released a cover of Yung Lean‘s “Agony,” and shot an impromptu video while “walking around in a haze,” as he phrases on Twitter, early this morning. The group transforms Lean’s version, adding layered instruments to the otherwise naked track.
“Agony” originally appears on Yung Lean’s Stranger, with Lean stretching his voice over somber piano keys, conjuring up Beauty and the Beast imagery of dancing with candlesticks. For a group with roots the DIY scene, the cover might seem kind of weird on its face, but Payseur and his pals have always been voracious listeners. In addition to his robust collection of 80s UK hardcore, he and the band spent a fair amount of time around the release of their last album Somersault talking about how its patchwork construction was inspired by 90s rap and its production’s sample collagework. Also, for what its worth, sometime in the months since the release of Somersault they’ve apparently become friends with Post Malone after repeatedly @-ing him on twitter (there is a beautiful interview with them discussing doing beer bongs with him in LA) so its clear they have some affection for musicians who play around at the edges of rap.
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Payseur’s swoony arrangement basically transforms “Agony” into a really good Beach Fossils song and, oh no, suddenly we have all these feelings.
Kristin Corry is a staff writer for Noisey.