While they still haven’t moved into the “writing new music in the 21st century” phase of their career, Alison’s Halo have at least taken the intermediary step of recording and releasing new music written by someone else in the 21st century.

Actually, check that. “Stuck”, which was written by Panchiko, whom they toured with last year and will again this year, is a rarity that appeared on their 2020 release Ferric Oxide, but that was an archival release of demos from 1997 to 2001 and according to the Bandcamp notes, “Stuck” dates to 1998.

Of the cover, Alison’s Halo says:

The inspiration for this release came straight from the road. While touring with Panchiko, Alison’s Halo fell in love with the track, finding themselves strumming and humming along to what vocalist and guitarist Catherine Cooper calls a “classic British pop song” backstage and in their tour van every single night. Recording a spacey cover of the song immediately jumped to the top of their post-tour to-do list. To bring their vision to life, they enlisted acclaimed mixer Sonny DiPerri (DIIV, Nothing, She’s Green, Wisp) to give the track its gorgeous, signature sparkle.

Alison’s Halo – “Stuck” @ Bandcamp

So yes, a new song of an old song and okay the ’90s were the best. But at least the accompanying video is new. I think.