Natalie Prass Announces ‘Side By Side’ EP Feat. Simon & Garfunkel, Grimes + Anita Baker Covers

Natalie Prass, who dropped her self-titled debut at the beginning of the year, has announced she will release a new EP next month.

The five-track Side By Side EP will include two live versions of Prass’ “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” and “Christy,” both of which you can stream at the bottom of the page. Her two originals will be joined by covers of Grimes’ “REALiTi,” Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” and Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture.”

Prass offered her reasoning behind her choices in covers in a statement (via Pitchfork):

I chose “Caught Up in the Rapture” because it’s the perfect song and Anita Baker can really work a shoulder pad. I have crazy respect for her.

“Sound of Silence." I dig the S & G... not like most people do. I can put it on for like a few songs because the lyrics and soft singing are very soothing, but then I'll have to put on James Brown ‘Live at the Apollo’ just to balance it out. Carmen McRae's psychedelic version of this song is brilliant. We did it her way. It's got that balance. This kind of style of music comes very naturally to us Richmond music folk. This was a one take Jake.

"REALiTi" by Grimes. Four chords. Simple lyrics and melodies. I think the world of her. We worked this song out in the studio never having played it before and recorded it like 3 times through. I think it works although she's probably going to say "what is this jazz s---" and hate it.

Of course, Prass has a knack for tackling a diverse set of covers -- just recently she delivered her rendition of Slayer’s "Raining Blood" for the A.V. Club, and, while on tour with Ryan Adams earlier this year, the two artists covered Patrick Swayze’s Dirty Dancing tune, “She’s Like the Wind.”

Side By Side, which was recorded at Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Va., is due out Nov. 20 on Startime International. Prass is currently on tour, which takes her to the Echoplex in L.A. tonight (Oct. 23). See a complete list of her upcoming stops right here.