Hear Yo La Tengo Build an Unnerving Dreamscape on New Song ‘Bleeding’

Yo La Tengo have shared a new song, “Bleeding,” which will appear on the group’s upcoming EP, Sleepless Night, out October 9th via Matador Records.

“Bleeding” is an immersive bit of dream pop, with tendrils of guitar lines twisting around each other while Ira Kaplan’s baritone floats above, just louder than a whisper. About halfway through, however, a lone drone begins to swell beneath the serene proceedings, adding an unnerving edge to the song as it drifts toward its conclusion.

“Bleeding” is the second offering off Sleepless Night, and will be the only original song on the project. The EP otherwise features five covers, including the previously released rendition of the Byrds’ “Wasn’t Born to Follow.” Yo La Tengo will also cover Bob Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” the Delmore Brothers’ “Blues Stay Away,” Ronnie Lane’s “Roll on Babe” and the Flying Machine’s “Smile a Little Smile for Me.”

Yo La Tengo originally recorded the songs on Sleepless Night for an LP that was part of a limited-edition catalog accompanying a retrospective for the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Nara, a long-time Yo La Tengo fan, helped the band choose the songs for the project and also designed the cover art.