Dan Bejar’s Destroyer, who haven’t released anything new since their excellent 2011 album Kaputt, have already been a lyrics-first sort of project. But on their new EP Five Spanish Songs, Bejar is abandoning both his native tongue and the role of songwriter. Bejar writes that he’s become disillusioned with the entire English language, which seems like a very Bejar problem to have. So on this new EP, he’s turned to Spanish and recorded five songs that were written by Antonio Luque, frontman of the Spanish band Sr. Chinarro. Below, listen to Destroyer’s crisp, power-poppy version of the Sr. Chinarro song “El Rito” and read Bejar’s statement on the EP.

Here’s what Bejar says about the EP:

It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable. It felt over for English; good for business transactions, but that’s about it. The only other language I know is Spanish, and the only Spanish songs I really know are those of Sr. Chinarro, led by Antonio Luque. I’ve been a decades-long fan of how he conducted his affairs, his strange words, his melodies that have always felt so natural (this is important), his bitter songs about painting the light. Something about them, I knew I could do it…

Five Spanish Songs is out 11/29 on Merge.