Margaret Glaspy’s covers EP The Golden Heart Protector arrives this Friday. We’ve only had one taste of it with the New York-based singer-songwriter’s take on Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” with Norah Jones. Now she tapped James Bay for Nico’s Jackson Browne-penned “These Days,” which we coincidentally just heard Emily Hines cover yesterday.

“Margaret and I met back in 2016, I reached out as a huge fan of her record Emotions And Math,” Bay explains. He continues:

We were playing the same festival and though we were on different stages at the same time, she sent a signed copy of her record to my dressing room. We’ve been friends ever since! In 2024 Margaret was in London playing some solo shows; she asked if she knew anyone who might be able to open up the show. I asked if I could and she said yes! We decided it would be fun to do a cover song together and we found These Days on a playlist of hers and thought it could make for a cool duet so we worked out a version that afternoon and that evening we played it live. We loved duetting and agreed it would be fun to capture it in the studio some time. At the end of 2024 we happened to be in LA at the same time and Margaret was working with Ryan Lerman in the studio. Margaret and I realised this was our chance to record These Days, she invited me over and we captured it in just a couple hours! The rest is history! I’m so grateful to Margaret for her friendship and inspiration, I’m such a huge fan of her work.

Listen below.

The Golden Heart Protector is out 9/12 on ATO.