Xiu Xiu

Xiu Xiu shares “Dancing on My Own (Robyn cover)” from new covers compilation Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1.

Featuring covers of songs by GloRilla, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, The Runaways, Daniel Johnston, Roy Orbison, The Normal/Grace Jones & more, Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1. will be out this Friday 16th January 2026 on Polyvinyl.

Xiu Xiu's devastating new cover of “Dancing on My Own”, the beloved track originally by Robyn, which appears on a delightfully wide-ranging collection of a series of covers that have previously only been available through subscription, titled Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1, via Polyvinyl.

Jamie Stewart shares:

"I was so afraid to do this one. An all-time favourite, but so beloved we didn't want to upset anyone. A true masterpiece and emotional pop. I envy this song in the sweetest way."

”Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1 has already been named one of Pitchfork’s most anticipated releases of 2026, and previous covers “Cherry Bomb” originally by The Runaways, with the b-side “Some Things Last a Long Time” originally by Daniel Johnston, were released in December.

According to Jamie Stewart:

“We have a long history of doing covers and have done 3 albums of covers. The enduring and basic throughline with all of them is an attempt to say thank you to those songs.

They are all, in one way or another, pieces of music that have moved us and exploring them in a deep way is a small honorific offering to the muse that created them.

We never approach them thinking ‘How can we improve these’ but really “What can we learn from these?’”

With regard to the covers of The Runaways and Daniel Johnston, they add:

“Unexpectedly I (forgive this melodramatic admission) cried while singing the Daniel Johnston song. If there ever were a sincere and wounded voice in the world it is his.”

Further adding:

“I love Joan Jett and I love being bad and this song is all about both.”

The most exciting and terrifying parts of dreams (or nightmares) are the ones we recognize. Familiar fragments collide and reassemble into something strange. Things we thought we recognised are turned upside down or ripped apart and sewn together backwards. That unnerving thrill - the shiver of recognition followed by disorientation - is at the core of Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1, the latest collection of covers from prolific music provocateurs Xiu Xiu. Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo and David Kendrick warp and distort classics spanning decades and genres - from 1950s rock n’ roll to new wave, Robyn to Throbbing Gristle.

Xiu Xiu are no strangers to interpretation. Since the group’s inception in 2002, they’ve regularly paid homage to artists they revere - from New Order’s “Ceremony” (featured on Chapel Of Chimes EP) to David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure” (for 2008’s Women As Lovers).

They’ve done tribute albums - 2013’s Nina, honouring Nina Simone, and 2016’s Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks - cementing their reputation for considered reimagining.

Across twelve tracks, Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1 compiles a heady selection of monthly covers the band began releasing in 2020 through their subscription series via Bandcamp, expanding their bewildering universe to commune with artists throughout time.

For Xiu Xiu, covers aren’t about improvement, but reverence.

“We never approach them thinking ‘how can we improve these’ but really ‘what can we learn from these,’”

Stewart says of the process.

Xiu Xiu explores the music that’s moved them, as if each artist were a singular creative deity. The result is

“a small honorific offering to the muse that created us.”

Some covers are a shadowed vision of the original, zooming in on the song’s pronounced aura. The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” bratty defiance funnelled through industrial pulses and slithering percussion - a ticking time bomb of acidic distortion and rebellion. Their version of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” is reborn with howling ‘60s organs, flute spirals, and swirls of reverbed vocals. It feels older than the original, as if Question Mark & The Mysterians or 13th Floor Elevators have been drawn into the conversation. Other reworkings with Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” or GloRilla’s “Lick Or Sum” unearth new understandings of contemporary hits.

Certain songs provided unexpected obstacles. “In Dreams” tested the limits of Stewart's vocal prowess; Coil’s “Triple Sun” allowed them the opportunity to study a band that listeners are constantly linking them to; Stewart was moved to tears while recording Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time” - “If there ever were a sincere and wounded voice in the world it is his.” On XMFX, Xiu Xiu reshapes echoes of pop history into séances, lucid dreams, and sonic rituals - breathing new life into music’s past through a years-long, sustainable practice

2026 Live Dates

*ERASERHEAD performances

16/01 - Miami, FL @ No Hay Banda - The Ground *

18/01 - Tampa, FL @ Sun Ray Cinema *

31/01 - Brighton, UK @ Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts *

01/02 - Liverpool, England @ Quarry *

02/02 - Manchester, England @ Gorilla *

04/02 - Glasgow, Scotland @ Cottiers *

06/02 - London, England @ ICA *

07/02 - London, England @ ICA *

09/02 - Paris, France @ La Marbrerie *

02/04 - Athens, Greece @ Danaos Cinema *

09–12/04 - The Hague, Netherlands @ Rewire Festival *