December have become favourites of the U2 online fan community and played the fan led celebrations of U2’s 40th birthday in Dublin in 2016.
Glasgow band December have released a special rendition of U2’s Rattle and Hum track 'Heartland yesterday as part of the bi-annual and international U2 Conference.
This year's conference has as its theme ‘Heartland: U2’s looking for American Soul’
December previously gained international recognition with the release of their first album I Will Let You Have Your Say in 2016.
The album is a collection of songs inspired by the band’s heroes and includes tracks named after Barack Obama, country legend George Jones, The Waterboy’s Mike Scott and includes the singles Alison Stewart and Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish.
December count U2 as a major influence and formed a group after seeing the original Joshua Tree tour in 1987 in Scotland.
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The band have been long-time followers of U2 and released a dedication single ‘Alison Stewart' in 2015, with all proceeds going to benefit Irish charity Chernobyl Children International.
December also released 33, a 10-song album of re-interpretations of U2 classics, in September 2017 as a celebration of the work of the Irish legends.
The Scottish band will release their third album of originals, God is Not a Man, on December 1, 2020.
'Heartland' will feature as the only cover on the band’s forthcoming album of original material.
The single is accompanied by a video by Los Angeles based filmmaker BK Garceau III, inspired by the beauty and ruggedness of the American heartland.
The track is dedicated to the memory of the filmmaker’s father, Bernard Garceau Jr, who sadly passed away the night before the originally intended release date of the song as well as to Paul Wright.
Wright was a lifelong U2 fan from the UK who passed away in 2019, with his brother Andy sponsoring the December version of the single.
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"Truth is we couldn’t quite let go," December vocalist Ails said.
"It’s been so fulfilling to record these songs from a band we dearly love that it didn’t take much for us to change our mind. 'Heartland' is a track of great beauty and we hope we have done it justice. It’s also so hard to sing and reinforces what a great vocalist Bono is - he’s at the top and bottom of his range in the U2 version."
Listen to the cover of 'Heartland' by December below:
