Lankum are to release a cover of The Specials‘ “Ghost Town”. The standalone single will be available on 12” from January – and is available to pre-order here. The version was originally created for an Oona Doherty dance show Specky Clark at Sadler’s Well earlier this year.

To tide you over until the January release, you can watch an 8-minute video for the track below.

The video was filmed in County Wicklow by the director Leonn Ward, with cinematographer Robbie Ryan.

Lankum explain how the track came about. “Ghost Town came to us through some curious circumstances. Oona Doherty, who we were familiar with through her phenomenal dance work on the video for Gilla Band’s ‘Shoulderblades’, contacted us and told us about a new show she was putting together.

“It was about her great-great-grandfather being sent to Belfast as a child to live with his aunts and work in an abattoir. She wanted a new piece of music for the show, for a party scene set on Halloween night, and told us she wanted it to start out indistinguishable and woozy, before developing into the very recognisable track by The Specials.

“At first we were slightly reticent, since a cover of a ska tune wasn’t something we’d usually ever consider, but after a bit of deliberation we decided we’d give it a shot, and the result took us on an incredibly enjoyable journey that had us gleefully playing with synthesisers and drum machines in Hellfire Studios, trying to come up with the scaldiest ’90s sounding techno for the outro section of the track.

“We’re very excited with the end product and delighted that Oona approached us and challenged us to step out of our comfort zone. It’s an honour to be releasing a version of this iconic tune, and it feels eerily relevant to be referencing yet again themes of urban decay, economic hardship and working class frustration.

“Enjoy responsibly.”