Alex Cameron

I’ve almost lost friends over Barry Gibb’s songs. They’re so important to me that whenever anyone else covers his songs—or even expresses a love for them—I become possessed by some pubescent demon. These songs speak to you and you alone, it tells me. Hell, I even play a Guild Songbird on stage—Barry Gibb’s guitar of choice—despite the pleas of sound technicians at venues all over the world. Of course, the demon is wrong, and it’s time I let go of those possessive feelings. This single is an attempt to rid myself of that jealous spirit. The one that says this music is mine, and only I understand it. Before I asked the good people of the internet to submit requests for a cover song—I considered “Islands In The Stream” untouchable. And a big part of me still thinks it is. I’m lucky Roan Yellowthorn agreed to sing it with me. She carries the recording, and gave me the freedom to sing on it with her. Justin Nijssen produced it with me and plays bass and guitar on the track. He was my therapist and guided me to a breakthrough, helping me create the mantra I was to repeat to myself at night: “No one has dibs on Gibbs.” And of course, Roy Molloy is there with us on the saxophone. The B-side—“Midsummer Nights,” as a song—is perhaps the closest thing to perfection in the world of pop music. Jonathan Rado composed all the music for the recording. You can hear that he understands how important that tune is to me—and to all of us.
And so here it is, the music that is no longer just for me, from our crew to yours.