Last year, just before lockdown, Courtney Barnett and Vagabon covered Karen Dalton’s folk classic “Reason To Believe” onstage together. Soon afterwards, the two artists recorded their version of that song, and they released it a couple of months ago. Today, Barnett and Vagabon have released another cover song that they recorded together. This one is a take on Sharon Van Etten’s big, open-hearted 2010 song “Don’t Do It,” and it’s coming out as part of Sharon Van Etten’s forthcoming expanded edition of her 2010 album Epic.

Last year, Epic celebrated its 10th anniversary. This year, belatedly marking the occasion, Van Etten is releasing a set called epic Ten, which features a bunch of other artists covering the songs from Epic. We’ve already heard Van Etten covers from Big Red Machine, IDLES, Lucinda Williams, and Shamir, and Van Etten still has Fiona Apple’s version of “Love More” on deck. Today, we get the Courtney Barnett/Vagabon take on “Don’t Do It.”

On the “Don’t Do It” cover, Courtney Barnett takes the lead, turning the song into more of a shambolic rocker. Vagabon’s background harmonies sweeten the track, and it’s got a nice sidelong strut that contrasts with the sweep of Van Etten’s original. In an Instagram post yesterday, Van Etten writes about how much Barnett’s friendship and music mean to her. Below, check out the Barnett/Vagabon version of “Don’t Do It,” the Van Etten original, and the post from Van Etten.

In a press release, Barnett says:

I was so honoured that Sharon invited me to be part of this project. She is one of my favourite songwriters and such an inspiring artist, performer & encouraging friend to me. This song “Don’t Do It” is powerful and personal, I really didn’t know how to make it my own, in fact I tried to pick a different song and convinced myself I wasn’t up to the task, but Sharon was quietly supportive the whole time. in the process of talking vulnerably about the lyrics with her, I had to delve deeper into what the song meant for me. It’s fascinating to hear an artist ruminate on a song that is 10 years old and see how it/they have evolved. I think it’s a beautiful thing to celebrate the journey of a song.

I went into the studio a few days after Melbourne lockdown lifted. Stella Mozgawa played drums and I played guitar and we built the song from there. A week later I was talking to my friend Lætitia (Vagabon) we were saying how we should collaborate more. I nervously asked if she’d be interested in singing with me on this song and I’m so glad she said yes, her voice sounds incredible and really made the song feel complete. After nearly a year of solitude, I was so grateful for this opportunity to create something different with people that I greatly admire. And it seemed perfectly strange that the last time I was on a stage pre-COVID was with these three people.

epic Ten is out digitally 4/16 and physically 6/11 on Ba Da Bing. Pre-order it here.