The Knocks Premiere Spellbinding New Track ‘Best For Last’ Feat. Walk the Moon
Leading up to their new album 55 (out March 4th on Big Beat/Neon Gold), The Knocks have unveiled collaborations with everyone from Wyclef Jean to Carly Rae Jepsen. Now they add pop rockers Walk the Moon to the list with their latest single “Best for Last.”
Check out its world premiere here,
“We have always been huge fans of Walk the Moon,” explains Ben “B Roc” Ruttner to Billboard, who makes up one half of The Knocks alongside James “JPatt” Patterson. “They are great songwriters and really have an original style no one else is doing right now. We were super excited when we found out they were also fans of ours.”
The track, which combines the house and pop sounds The Knocks have mined since they broke out onto the scene in 2010, features the voice of Walk the Moon frontman Nick Petricca. According to Ruttner, its beat was originally created in 2013. “We played the instrumental for him in the studio and Nick’s eyes lit up and we saw his brain working right away,“ Ruttner says of the song’s lyrical birth. “We left the room for literally like 15 minutes and when we came back Nick and (fellow Walk the Moon member) Eli Maiman already had a verse ready and we were obsessed with it. It was definitely one of those brain explosion, get out of your chair, chills-down-your-arm moments.”
Petricca echoes the uniqueness of the collaboration. “After our session, we all came out of this trance like, ‘Wow, that was something really special,’” he notes. “The song shows a side of both groups that no one has heard before.”
Check out Walk the Moon’s handwritten lyrics below:
With the release of 55 quickly approaching, The Knocks are looking forward to shattering the perception of being mere DJs as opposed to a production duo. “A DJ plays records, a producer makes records. A lot of people mix the two up these days and it gets frustrating sometimes since both of us have been producing and writing music since we were young teenagers,” Ruttner points out.
“Being called a ‘DJ’ seems to sell us short a little. As far as pop hits go, I think the worst thing you can do is try to chase it. If we get a ‘hit’ that’s cool, if not that’s cool, too. We’ve made a choice not to chase trends, which has worked out in our favor. We’re just happy to be able to make what we want to make and make a living off of it.”