Experimental music collective Xiu Xiu has announced plans for a delightfully wide-ranging new collection, Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, set for release on January 16, 2026, through Polyvinyl. This album compiles a heady selection of monthly covers that the band, led by Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick, began releasing in 2020 through their Bandcamp subscription series. The collection, which spans decades and genres from 1950s rock ‘n’ roll to artists like Robyn and Throbbing Gristle, allows the group to expand their bewildering sonic universe by communing with artists throughout time.
For Xiu Xiu, known for their considered reimaginings on projects like 2013’s Nina and 2016’s Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, covers are fundamentally an act of reverence. Jamie Stewart elaborated on this core philosophy:
“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.”
The band introduced the album with their dark, industrial take on The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb,” backed by their interpretation of Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time.” Stewart shared an intense, emotional connection to both tracks. Regarding the Daniel Johnston track, he admitted:
“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.”
He added a more rebellious note on the A-side:
“I love Joan Jett and I love being bad and this song is all about both.”
Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 is designed to be a cathartic experience, reshaping echoes of pop history into séances and sonic rituals. The result is an unsettling, yet thrilling sound that features tracks like a reborn version of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” and new understandings unearthed in contemporary hits.
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