As far as tried/true rock gimmicks go, adding a choir to a song is relatively harmless–more obvious than, say, leaving in studio chatter at the start of a song, but much more “authentic” than, say, choosing a cover version as your first single. The sound of many voices uniting as one, can take even the [...]

First, the band members on AA&A’s self-titled debut album: Howie Gelb from alt-country pioneers Giant Sand, backed with a revolving cast that includes M. Ward, Scout Niblett, Grandaddy, and Jeremy from Arcade Fire. Second, the song: stripping all of the jazzy, ambient studio perfection from Traffic’s canonized original and replacing it with a dusty yet [...]