Xiu Xiu Announce Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1 — A Radical, Genre-Bending Covers Collection Out January 16, 2026

Xiu Xiu have long been masters of transformation — a band known for reshaping musical history into something stranger, darker, and profoundly moving. Today, the group announces Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1, a new compilation of covers drawn from their acclaimed subscriber-only series, now set for wide release on January 16, 2026 via Polyvinyl. The album spans decades of influence and devotion, featuring songs by GloRilla, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Robyn, Roy Orbison, The Normal/Grace Jones, and more. Pre-orders are available now.

To mark the announcement, Xiu Xiu also share their blistering cover of The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb,” paired with a b-side rendition of Daniel Johnston’s aching classic “Some Things Last a Long Time.”

Frontperson Jamie Stewart explains the band’s longstanding relationship with reinterpretation:

“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?’”

For Stewart, certain selections became unexpectedly emotional.

“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.”

They add of recording “Cherry Bomb”:

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

A Dream Logic Reimagining of Pop History

The thrill of Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1 lies in its uncanny familiarity. The band — Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick — take recognizable classics and reshape them into something dreamlike and disorienting. Icons and eras collide: 1950s rock n’ roll, no wave, avant-pop, industrial, and hypermodern hip-hop swirl together in a kaleidoscope of sound.

Xiu Xiu have been paying tribute since their earliest days, from New Order’s “Ceremony” to their unforgettable rendition of “Under Pressure” with Michael Gira, to full-length homage projects like 2013’s Nina and 2016’s Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks. This new collection gathers twelve of the monthly covers the band began releasing in 2020 through their Bandcamp subscription, now curated into a cohesive exploration of their own artistic lineage.

Each track chooses reverence over reinvention, but the band’s unmistakable sonic signature transforms the terrain. The Runaways’ punk anthem becomes a snarling industrial pulse. Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” re-emerges with spectral ‘60s organs, flutes, and smoked-out vocals, as though the song had aged backwards in time. Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” and GloRilla’s “Lick Or Sum” reveal surprising emotional and rhythmic new angles when filtered through Xiu Xiu’s prism.

Some covers challenged the band in unexpected ways. Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” stretched Stewart’s vocal dexterity; Coil’s “Triple Sun” offered an opportunity for deeper study of a band frequently compared to them by fans. And Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time” struck with such sincerity that it moved Stewart to tears.

Across the collection, the band operates with the belief that each song is a kind of deity — something to be studied, honored, and reshaped only through deep listening. The result is, as Stewart describes, “a small honorific offering to the muse that created us.”

2026 Live Dates

(All shows are ERASERHEAD performances)

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

01/18 – Tampa, FL @ Sun Ray Cinema

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

02/01 – Liverpool, England @ Quarry

02/02 – Manchester, England @ Gorilla

02/04 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Cottiers

02/06 – London, England @ ICA

02/07 – London, England @ ICA

02/09 – Paris, France @ La Marbrerie

04/02 – Athens, Greece @ Danaos Cinema

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

With Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1, Xiu Xiu continue their long tradition of engaging with the musical past — not by preserving it, but by haunting it, reshaping it, and ushering it into new dimensions. It’s a séance, a reverie, and a study in devotion.