With most of us still a bit hungover from yesterday’s Super Bowl festivities, it’s understandable that there hasn’t been that much Valentine’s Day celebration. After all, who’d want their brand-new, holiday-themed song washed away by the rush of conversation about that incredible performance? Fortunately, there’s one band that remains undaunted by the prospect — and they’ve got the perfect remedy for the above condition.
Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars, who teamed up last year as the romantic duo Silk Sonic, once again joined forces to play into their lover-man schtick for the most romantic holiday, offering a new song about love and all its benefits. Tapping even deeper into the 70s-and-80s-inspired funk aesthetic from which they derive their air of casual cool, this time they directly lift from their influences, covering Bay Area band Con Funk Shun’s 1983 R&B hit, “Love’s Train.”
For a generation of funk and R&B fans, this is Con Funk Shun’s signature hit, and for the most part, Andy and Bruno play it straight, with buzzing bass and soaring horns backing their velvety vocals. Of course, the song is secretly perfect for them — while it masquerades as a love anthem, it’s as much about the messiness as anything on their debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, as it was originally penned about a woman two of Con Funk Shun’s members tried to woo at the same time.
Listen to Silk Sonic’s cover of “Love’s Train” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.