It turns out Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and frontwoman Karen O have flown to Australia of late to promote respective solo projects — Zinner with his symphonic debut, “41 Strings,” and O with her first psycho-opera, Stop the Virgens. The latter is of particular interest around here, as it stems from a shelved 2005 solo album from O left gathering dust while YYYs followed their debut with two more excellent LPs and the personal favorite Is Is EP. Last fall we heard “Duet” premiered live on WNYC, and now we have a video take on the somber cut with Jason Grisell returning on harmony vocals/guitar. Zinner and O originally conceived their band as an acoustic duo back in 2000, so I like to imagine this material as a kind of alternate reality to the heavier direction they ended up pursuing for a decade. Check it out above. Meanwhile, explore Stop the Virgens further with a behind-the-scenes featurette after the jump.
O and Zinner’s solo work continues to impress, but fear not, YYYs fans, they’ve been “writing and jamming” and “working on some more Yeah Yeah Yeahs stuff,” as well.