The Avalanches are keeping a busy 2026 rolling with another high-profile collaboration, this time reuniting with Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O for the wistful new single “Blue Shadows.”
The track marks the second collaboration between the artists following “Dial D For Devotion” from the Avalanches’ acclaimed 2020 album We Will Always Love You. It’s also the Australian duo’s third new release of the year, following “Every Single Weekend” with Jamie xx and “Together,” featuring Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza and Prentiss.
According to the Avalanches’ Robbie Chater, “Blue Shadows” nearly never saw the light of day. The song originated from an idea by bandmate Andy Szekeres that languished in an old folder until group member Tony Di Blasi rediscovered it and pushed for it to become part of a future album. With the blessing of Claudio Casalini and the estate of Italian composer Celso Valli, the track finally came together years later.
Chater said he sent the demo to Karen O without expecting she’d actually be able to build a vocal around what he described as its “peculiar, singular mood. What she recorded still amazes me after months of listening,” he said. “It’s so achingly forlorn and somehow sounds as if it always existed as a song. I don’t know how that is possible, or what she was channelling — some people just have access to a higher plane, I suppose!”
Karen O said she immediately connected with the music. “When Robbie sent me ‘Blue Shadows’ I jumped at the chance to collaborate,” she said. “We Will Always Love You was a gift to humanity in 2020 and I’ll count it as one of my top 10 forever. The Avalanches frequency is high. I’m so happy to be asked to slide into it.”
“Blue Shadows” follows a particularly active stretch for the Avalanches, who turned the music world on its ear with their sample-strewn 2000 debut album Since I Left You, but then disappeared for long stretches in the 2000s and 2010s. After performing at Primavera Sound Barcelona, the group will be back in action next month for live and DJ sets at additional European festivals.
