On February 18 of this year, Canvasback Music/Atlantic records will be releasing a new album celebrating the work of multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and activist Yoko Ono. Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono will be dropping on a Friday, coinciding with the artist’s 81st birthday.
Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono was imagined and curated by Benjamin Gibbard, who is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Death Cab for Cutie. This album will contain14 all new versions of Ono’s songs, covered and performed by a diverse spread of both rising artists and legendary stars including David Byrne and Yo La Tengo, who collaborated on a cover of Yoko Ono’s “Who Has Seen the Wind?”, which was first released over fifty years ago.
The album will also contain striking and inspired renditions by such longtime devotees such as Deerhoof and The Flaming Lips. Also featured are brand new performances from Sharon Van Etten, Death Cab for Cutie, US Girls, Japanese Breakfast, Jay Som, Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields), Thao, Sudan Archives, We Are KING, and Amber Coffman, all of which serve to accentuate Ono’s powerful artistic impact, lasting cultural relevance, and utterly unique approach to songcraft.
A portion of album’s proceeds will be donated to WhyHunger, which is a non-profit organization Ono has supported for decades to transform the food system by building social justice and striking at the root causes of hunger and poverty. Yoko Ono has been an innovative and influential force on music and art for more than seven decades, all while campaigning for peace on the world’s stage.
You can preorder Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono here, and stream David Bryne and Yo La Tengo’s cover of “Who Has Seen the Wind?” here.
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