Sky Ferreira is just full of surprises this week.
After brooding it out for a truly stunning photo set for Yves Saint Laurent’s 2013 Pre-Fall look book shot by Hedi Slimane, the endlessly versatile pop chanteuse has just popped up as a featured vocalist on Croatian cello duo 2CELLOS‘ brand new record. Wait, what?
Let’s back it up a little, because it’s not actually that strange: The instrumentalist first made an international splash with their cover of “Smooth Criminal” back in April of 2011, which went viral. It went so viral, in fact, that the duo were suddenly appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performing alongside Elton John on his 2011 tour–they even performed their cover on Glee‘s Michael Jackson tribute episode.
For their new studio album, IN2ITION, the duo decided to enlist a few friendly voices to take on modern classics and contemporary hits (“We Found Love”!), including Elton John, Glee‘s Naya Rivera, and none other than Miss Sky herself. And what better track for Ferreira to perform than the Cher/Nancy Sinatra-covered classic, “Bang Bang (Shot You Dead)”?
Naturally, it’s a perfect fit for the moody indie-pop songstress: The mournful instrumentation, mixed with Sky’s breathy, melancholy vocals, makes this production just about as heart-wrenchingly sad and haunting as she’s ever sounded on record. It sounds as though she’s hanging onto each syllable for dear life. Is it too early to pitch this one for the soundtrack of Kill Bill: Vol. 3?
Prepare for full body chills.
IN2ITION was released on January 15. (iTunes)