NEWS
Kurstin x Grohl: The Hanukkah Sessions 2021: Night One
Courtesy PhotoFoo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin rebooted their “Hanukkah Sessions” project on Sunday night (Nov. 28) — the first night of the Festival of Lights — with a bone-crunching, black metal take on Lisa Loeb‘s gentle 1994 ballad “Stay (I Missed You).” After running through eight covers of songs by Jewish artists last year, including tracks by the Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, the demonic duo roared back with a fresh take on Loeb’s signature song for the first entry in this year’s edition.
“Welcome back to the menorah, y’all. Let’s kick it this year’s Hanukkah sessions with one of Dallas, Texas’s favorite Jewish daughters,” Grohl wrote alongside the pair’s low budget video for the song. “So put on your coffee shop spectacles and your Betsey Johnson dress and HAVA listen to this…”
The clip opens with Grohl rocking a vintage mid-1990s flowered dress and chunky glasses as he croons the song’s gentle opening riffs. It’s just a Rickroll-style head fake, though, as the camera zooms in Dave’s agitated, shaking face bellowing the chorus in his best black metal scream for a completely unexpected, delightful tonal shift. Your Hanukkah never rocked so hard.
Loeb appreciated the effort, tweeting out that Grohl and Kurstin did a “great job,” and also shouting out the singer’s smart sartorial choice of a vintage Betsey Johnson dress.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
