December 22, 2016 - 17:55 AMT
Wild Beasts share cover of Leonard Cohen‘s “Say Goodbye”

Wild Beasts have shared a cover of Leonard Cohen‘s ‘Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye’, NME said.

The band recorded the cover during the studio sessions for their 2014 album ‘Present Tense’ and decided to release it as tribute to late singer-songwriter after unearthing it in their archives.

In a caption accompanying the song, singer Hayden Thorpe writes: “2016 was a cruel year for goodbyes. We were in Canada the day Cohen died, though our version of ‘Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye’ was recorded a few years earlier during writing sessions for ‘Present Tense’.”

He continues: “The arrival of a Yamaha D50 synthesiser into the studio prompted some time down a worm hole from which we emerged with this. It seemed fitting to pull it from the archives, blow off the dust and let some light in.”

The song appeared on Cohen’s 1967 album ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’. The Canadian artist passed away on November 7, aged 82.

Following Cohen death, a number of artists have honoured the late musician by performing his songs during concerts.

Savages chose to cover ‘Recitation’ during their recent Brixton Academy gig, while Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed ‘Suzanne’ solo at the band’s London Palladium show last month.

Wild Beasts released their latest and fifth studio album ‘Boy King’ in August.