The second in our series of Windmill Lane Sessions in collaboration with Independent.ie sees Fish and Bird take on classic 1980 Bowie track ‘Ashes to Ashes’ in a dour, string-laden effort perfectly in line with their own lyrics about seeing who can sing the saddest song (they’re winning).

Lines like ‘We all know Major Tom’s a junky’ are surrounded by off-kilter violin, and deepen the darkness of the death-dirge angle that Bowie himself planted on the track. ‘it’s an epitaph for the 70s’, Bowie used to say, but there’s a hint of the stars own drug excesses to be found, too.

The Canadian five-piece roots act have the kind of minor-key splattering approach to the cover that gives it more of a resonance with the original than any sense of a copy – a delicate walk through the spirit of the track that happens to be propped up with the same lyrics. It’s memorably different, just don’t listen if you’re on a downer.

To check out more from Fish & Bird, including an video interview with Barry Egan and a performance of their own song 'Something in the Ether' - click on the image below.