Before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, the young lovers made an album called Buckingham Nicks. Today, a pair of jazzy, classical-leaning indie-folk singer-songwriter types, Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham, have announced a full-length cover of that album, due out next month. As you can see above, they unfortunately have not re-created the “no clothes but lots of hair” cover art.

Cunningham Bird is produced by Mike Viola, one of only two musicians who plays on the album besides Bird and Cunningham. Viola handles wurlitzer, bass and drums, while Griffin Goldsmith also contributes some drums and percussion. The tracklist remains the same, but the songs have been transformed into the kind of indie chamber music you’d expect from this pair. They’ve shared two songs today, “Crying In The Night” and “Crystal.”

A statement from Bird:

It’s hard to listen to Buckingham Nicks’ 1973 debut album without trying to imagine it as a prequel to Fleetwood Mac’s legend. It’s hard to listen to this album period, as it’s out-of-print and not available on any streaming services. Yet it’s that youthful ambition and overindulgence that make it fascinating. The best reason to cover anyone is that little part of you that thinks you might do it better. This album epitomizes excess and confidence, and it only made sense to embody that spirit ourselves. The confidence, that is, to mess with an iconic, if underrated gem. Madison is the most talented musician I’ve encountered. She has a restless ear, always looking for a new sound or harmonic twist. Her voice is goosebump inducing, nimble and emotive at any volume. I just had to find the right project for us to go deep on and this is it.

And here’s Cunningham:

Ever since knowing and playing with Andrew, I’ve wanted to join forces with him independently of our own projects. He’s one of my favorite artists alive and one of the deepest musical collaborators I’ve been lucky enough to have. This buried Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham record found us in a place where we were trying to figure out what we could do together. Unfamiliar with it, but excited by its scarcity on streaming platforms, we decided to take it on from front to back, in our own way. It was unsurprising to me how it ended up becoming one of the most creatively satisfying record-making experiences I’ve had, but the unforeseen bonus was how relevant some of those lyrics would be to my own life in the time of making it. It became a lifeline for me, and I hope we’ve done it justice.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Crying In The Night”
02 “Stephanie”
03 “Without A Leg To Stand On”
04 “Crystal”
05 “Long Distance Winner”
06 “Don’t Let Me Down Again”
07 “Django”
08 “Races Are Won”
09 “Lola My Love”
10 “Frozen Love”

Cunningham Bird is out 10/18 digitally and 12/13 physically via Loma Vista/Verve Forecast. Pre-order it here.