Photo Credit: Graham Barbour

Virginia-based experimental rock ensemble Kendall Street Company have shared plans to release a full-length studio album entitled Separation95 this fall. The forthcoming project will feature eight tracks, with three singles rolling out ahead of the official Sept. 22 release date. As a preview of what’s to come, the group shared a reimagined interpretation of the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World.” 

The group’s spin on the 1973 Wake of the Flood classic saw band member Jake Vanaman (Rhodes, organ, background vocals) write the reharmonization and updated arrangement. It first came to be in 2021 after he was inspired by a TikTok video in which a woman used sign language to communicate the lyrics to the beloved Grateful Dead original. 

In addition to the group’s stroke of inspiration for the cover, they also noted via their official Instagram account that the mode of “alternative storytelling” became the primary catalyst when approaching the Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia scribed number, referring to it as “the KSC version.” 

In the aforementioned social media post, the group also noted: “How can we tell the same story without telling the same story? While borrowing themes and motifs but still establishing a unique identity? What different gestures can we invoke to decorate the lyrics that have been sung by so many?” They concluded, “And to be honest, we are really really proud of how this cover embodies that as well as sets the stage for the rest of the album.”

Stream Kendall Street Company’s adaptation of the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World” below. 

For more information, visit the band’s official website.