When Nathan Salsburg’s daughter was a baby, he often sang her to sleep in a rocking chair. At one point, he remembered a song he had taught himself as a teenager: “The Evidence” by Lungfish, the Maryland band who coined a singular brand of post-punk in the 90s and 00s. Salsburg realized he could play the guitar part with one hand, singing while holding Talya in his other arm. Though the original version of “The Evidence” is only five minutes long, it’s essentially a repetitive mantra, so Salsburg could extend it as long as he wanted–10 minutes, 20 minutes, even an hour. “It was therapeutic and calming and just lovely for me,” he says. “And it worked on her.” Eventually Nathan and Talya moved on from their ritual, but his lullaby cover stayed in his head. So he proposed to his fellow Louisville collaborators Bonnie “Prince” Billy (aka Will Oldham) and Tyler Trotter that they record a version with Salsburg on guitar, Oldham singing, and Trotter adding drum machines and synths. They decided to pair it with a rendition of another Lungfish song, “Hear the Children Sing,” playing each tune for more than enough time to fill two sides of an album. The result is the beguiling Hear the Children Sing the Evidence, an album that displays the strengths and visions of the participants while showcasing how richly powerful Lungfish’s songs are.

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Sometimes the best music happens when a group of friends get together and discover that they’re mutual fans of the same artist. When that group of friends is Ted Leo on vocals and guitar, Brendan Canty from Fugazi on drums, Michael Hampton from Faith/Fake Names on guitar, and Sohrab Habibion from The Obits on bass then you know that the recording is going to be special, and when the inspiration is the early 70’s work of French-Canadian legend Michel Pagliaro then you can be certain that it’s going to be magical. Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy is the first 7” in a series of nuggets from the Foreign Correspondents, join them as they travel the world searching for lost classics! This 7” is on color vinyl.