To coincide with Neil Halstead’s show at Bush Hall on September 25, we’ll be releasing a limited-edition 7″ single featuring covers of some of his best songs by two of our favourite bands: Gravenhurst and Beach Fossils.

We’ve always told anyone who will listen that Neil is the most underrated British songwriter of the past 20 years. Just look at the evidence: three albums and several EPs with Slowdive, five with Mojave 3 and – when ‘Palindrome Hunches’ comes out later this year – three impeccable solo outings. Is there anyone else with such a rich back catalogue? What’s that you say? Paul Weller’s discovered krautrock? Well, whoop-de-doo, put him on the cover…

And while our single isn’t quite as expansive as Morr Music’s classic ‘Blue Skied An’ Clear’ tribute from 10 years ago, it shows the continuing influence of Neil’s songwriting on both sides of the Atlantic. Brooklyn buzz band Beach Fossils cover the Slowdive classic ‘Alison’ (originally for the Ad Hoc Compilation, but on vinyl here for the first time) in a reverential but joyous fashion, while Gravenhurst exclusively fuzz up the folk of ‘Paint A Face’, one of the stand-out tracks from Neil’s last solo record ‘Oh! Mighty Engine’ (the video for Neil’s original is below).

The single will be on sale at the gig on September 25 and, if there are any left after that, in select record stores. You can also pre-order it from the Sonic Cathedral Shop now. Oh, did we mention it was on clear vinyl?

So, come on, let’s celebrate ourselves. As Gravenhurst’s Nick Talbot wrote in this blog post: “The young generation of [Slowdive] fans have grown up and are settling old scores on the band’s behalf. And we will win you know.”