Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords’ Alexandra Sauser-Monnig Take on “Popeye” Classic “He Needs Me”

The duo will release Fruit, their debut album as The A’s, on July 15.

Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords’ Alexandra Sauser-Monnig Take on Popeye Classic “He Needs Me”

The duo will release Fruit, their debut album as The A’s, on July 15.

Words: Margaret Farrell

Photo: Kendall Bailey Atwater

June 09, 2022

There's a new release coming on Sylvan Esso's Psychic Hotline label and it's from the duo's own Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords' Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. The two musicians, who are also part of the group Mountain Man, are releasing their debut album Fruit as The A's on July 15. The first look at the project, which is a collection of "joyous, yodeling folk songs," is their take on Harry Nilsson and Shelley Duvall's 1980 Popeye standard "He Needs Me." The single also comes with a video co-directed by Meath and Spencer Kelly, and art-directed by Sauser-Monnig.

Although The A's played their first show together in 2013, it wasn't until 2021 that Fruit began to take shape. The project was inspired by the DeZurik Sisters' original recording of "Why I'm Grieving." The full batch of songs was rehearsed and recorded by candle light at Sylvan Esso's Chapel Hill studio. Fruit was produced by Nick Sanborn and features a long list of collaborators, including vocals from friend and collaborator Jenn Wasner of Flock of Dimes and Wye Oak who sings on the album's sole original song, "When I Die," which Meath wrote as a list of wishes and instructions for the celebration of her life when she passes. 

Along with announcement, The A's shared the following poem:

Squinkly bing bong shaking at the knees
Willow trees are quaky just a-bendin' in the breeze
Tickle me tulip you're a flower in the crows
I liked the way it sounded when you did it upside down
Rubber band snap and a clippity clap
Did you hear what happened Alli when I tipped my hat?
If you follow your glee to the sycamore tree
You just might find a rabbit in the willowy snee
I'll take you to the movies and I'll take you to the stream
I'll tell you that I love you in the moonlight's beam
With a song and a joke and twinkle in the eye
We might just take you on a ride in the sky!

Watch the video for "He Needs Me" below, and pre-order Fruit here.