Norah Jones and Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong have unveiled a duet album.
After almost two decades at the forefront of Punk Rock, Billie Joe is slowing things down with the help of his long-time friend Norah Jones and remaking the classic Everly Brothers album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, which was first released in 1958.
The album will be titled Foreverly, and see the pair cover every song on the album, adding twists of folk-rock influences to the mix.
Armstrong and Jones explained the inspiration behind the collaboration in an interview with StereoGum:
“It all started with Stevie Wonder. We sang together with Stevie Wonder and his band and a whole bunch of people, that’s how Norah and I first met. Then… well, I got into the Everly Brothers’ record a couple years ago and I thought it was just beautiful. I was listening to it every morning for a while off and on.
I thought it would be cool to remake the record because I thought it was sort of an obscure thing and more people should know about it, but I really wanted to do it with a woman singing because I thought it would take on a different meaning — maybe broaden the meaning a little bit — as compared to hearing the songs being sung by the two brothers. And so my wife said, ‘Why don’t you get Norah Jones to do it?’ and I was like, ‘Well, I kinda know her.’ Well, I mean, we had Stevie Wonder in common. And so I called her and she said yes. So it was kinda like a… well, I keep saying it was kinda like a blind date.”
Once the pair got into the studio, it took just nine days to arrange and record, with drummer Dan Rieser and bassist Tim Luntzel taking the place of the rhythm section.
Jones has a reputation for her musical experimentation, such as the eclectic mix of styles found on her last album Little Broken Hearts; which was a collaboration between Jones and Hip-Hop/Electronica producer Danger Mouse. The album also featured the likes of Jack White of The White Stripes and Daniel Luppi.
Foreverly is due to hit stores on November 25, 2013 on Reprise Records.
Listen to “Long Time Gone” by Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong below:
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