We first heard Karen O settle into a low-key country tune with last fall’s Roger Alan Wade-penned Jackass theme, “If You’re Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough,” but here she is taking on a classic: “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” a late-’70s hit (written by Jack and Patsy Bruce) for outlaw-country greats Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. O’s eery, forlorn cover arrives as the soundtrack to “Abandon,” a short video spot for Chipotle’s new American farming support organization, the Cultivate Foundation. Hear O’s cut — the latest in her consistent run of excellent non-Yeah Yeah Yeahs projects — above.
Ethan Johns, Featured, Jon Brion, Laura Marling, Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams