Beach Bunny & Tegan and Sara Team up for Lovely “Cloud 9” Rework

Lili Trifilio-led, Chicago-based rock outfit Beach Bunny have released a new version of their Honeymoon single “Cloud 9” featuring none other than Tegan and Sara. The rework’s lyrics have been updated to include gender-neutral and feminine pronouns, which the veteran indie-pop duo describe as “efforts made to make the song relatable to everyone.”

Triflio sings the swooning pop-rock love song’s first chorus as originally written (“But when he loves me I feel like I’m floating / When he calls me pretty I feel like somebody”), and the Quin sisters take the next one, singing “she” instead, before Triflio handles the final chorus, swapping in “they.” It’s a simple, yet meaningful change that seems to say, “You deserve to feel loved and validated, regardless of your gender identity.”

Tegan and Sara say of the song in a statement:

We’re massive fans of Beach Bunny, and when we heard “Cloud 9” for the first time fell in love with the brilliant lyrics and addictive melody. We love that Lili was up to let us experiment with changing the pronoun in the chorus to she. The efforts made to make the song relatable to everyone, isn’t just about inclusivity, we think it’s a great indication of the flexibility and creative spirit of the band at its core!

Beach Bunny—Trifilio (vocals, guitar), Matt Henkels (guitar), Anthony Vaccaro (bass) and Jon Alvarado (drums)—released their debut album Honeymoon in February 2020, but “Cloud 9” has seen a recent resurgence, with five straight weeks on the Spotify Global Viral 50 chart at 2+ million daily streams, as well as 1.3 million TikTok features. Adding Tegan and Sara to the track in such a meaningful way will only throw gasoline on those sweet, inclusive flames. Meanwhile, it appears Beach Bunny are currently working on their second record.

YouTube is hosting a live chat with Beach Bunny and Tegan and Sara at 12:45 p.m. ET ahead of the song’s 1 p.m. lyric video premiere. You’ll be able to watch that in the embed below, but in the meantime, you can stream their new “Cloud 9” right here.

Watch the “Cloud 9” video premiere and revisit Beach Bunny’s 2019 Paste Studio session below, and see Beach Bunny’s February 2022 U.K./E.U. tour dates alongside Field Medic further down.

Beach Bunny Tour Dates:

February 2022
11 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Saint Luke’s *
12 – Dublin, Republic of Ireland @ The Workmans Club *
14 – Manchester, England @ Gorilla *
15 – London, England @ Electric Ballroom *
16 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Kavka VZW *
17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Noord *
18 – Paris, France @ Le Pop Up! *
20 – Berlin, Germany @ Cassiopeia *
21 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Pumpehuset *
22 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Bar Brooklyn *
24 – Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret *
26 – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow – Club *

(* – Field Medic supporting)