Yung Lean's native Sweden is better known for emotive indie rock than it is for genre-bending alternative hip-hop, so it's fitting that New York band Beach Fossils' cover of his track "Agony" sounds so right.
As Noisey noted, Beach Fossils lead singer Dustin Payseur is an established rap fan, so the track was already laid for something like this. "Agony" appeared on Stranger, Yung Lean's third studio album, which Pigeons & Planes ranked one of last year's best. On the record, Lean embraces a more melodic, soulful style that showcases his improved songwriting and more defined artistic sensibility.
Beach Fossils, put out their third LP, Somersault, in June 2017. In January, Yung Lean sat down with Complex and discussed his life and music, talking specifically about some new musical ideas he has in the works.
"I have a two side projects where I have real instruments like guitar and piano. I don’t know if those projects work better with real instruments," he said. "I don’t really like when there’s guitars and trap drums, like an emo rap song. I think you should go all the way with it. It sounds conservative but the blend just sounds too modern and too forced."
Listen to the cover below and read Pigeons & Planes' feature on how Yung Lean transcended internet novelty and cemented his career.
