15 of Andy Hull's (Manchester Orchestra) best collaborations

Pick up Manchester Orchestra vinyl in our store, including new album The Million Masks of God (light blue vinyl) and their new Christmas album (red vinyl).

Not only did Manchester Orchestra put out one of the best albums of their career this year with The Million Masks of God, frontman Andy Hull has also been on a roll lately with standout guest vocal appearances on other artists’ songs. It feels like he’s been doing it more than ever lately, but Andy has been doing great collaborations for nearly his entire career. He’s got one of the most distinct voices in indie rock, and he really knows how to make a good song even better. We’ve rounded up 15 of them that we’re especially fans of. Read on for our list, in no particular order…

Every Time I Die – “Thing With Feathers”

Like Manchester Orchestra, Every Time I Die also put out one of the best albums of their career this year with Radical, and one of the album’s absolute best songs is a track that sounds like almost nothing else in ETID’s discography: “Thing With Feathers.” It’s an atmospheric blend of indie rock, post-rock, and post-hardcore — practically a ballad by ETID’s standards — and it’s a truly impactful song that finds Keith Buckley singing about the death of his sister Jaclyn, saying goodbye to her, and sending her off into the sky. When Andy Hull’s angelic voice comes in to complement Keith’s, it elevates the song to an even more painstakingly gorgeous level.

Touche Amore – “Limelight”

Andy’s Every Time I Die collab isn’t a hardcore song at all, but his Touche Amore collab is. “Limelight” is not just a highlight of Touche Amore’s 2020 album Lament but of their entire career. It’s the most suspenseful, climactic song they’ve released yet, with Jeremy Bolm’s voice growing in intensity as the song builds from a minimal intro to an explosive chorus. And when the bridge hits, Andy comes in, contrasting Jeremy’s scream with his unmistakably melodic voice, and helps bring Touche Amore’s music into previously unexplored territory.

Tigers Jaw – “I Won’t Care How You Remember Me”

“I demoed the earliest idea of this song in my old apartment in Fishtown Philadelphia, and was texting with Andy Hull that day,” Tigers Jaw’s Ben Walsh recently told us. “He sent me a demo he had written, so I sent him this demo. Later that year, we were in the studio and I had the idea to ask him to sing on the track since he had an early connection to it.” The largely-acoustic song is one of the most tender moments on Tigers Jaw’s album of the same name, and Andy’s backing vocals make it even sweeter. “I was more than happy to be a part of that band’s awesome legacy in a small way,” Andy added.

Weatherbox – “The Devil and Whom?”

Like Manchester Orchestra, the eternally underrated Weatherbox get grouped with emo but tend to have more in common with indie rock, especially on their third (and possibly final) album, 2014’s Flies In All Directions. One of that album’s best songs is “The Devil and Whom?,” a folky, knotty slow-burner that eventually builds to a revved-up bridge, and when it does, Andy comes in, first harmonizing with Brian Warren on an elongated “heeeeeeey” before taking his own turn and delivering a verse that feels straight out of the early Manchester Orchestra era.

Manchester Orchestra and Julien Baker – “Bad Things To Such Good People” (Pedro the Lion cover)

Julien Baker had frequently cited Manchester Orchestra as an influence, and once Andy heard her music, it turned out the admiration was mutual. They finally met in person in 2016, and they recorded this Pedro The Lion cover that same day. “We met in person for the first time about 30 minutes before we started sketching out our re-creation,” Andy said. “It didn’t take me but about five minutes to realize just how deeply talented and layered Julien is.” It’s a gorgeous, atmospheric, piano-based cover that reinvents the song and is just as crucial as the original.

Manchester Orchestra and Frightened Rabbit – “Architect”

In 2013, Manchester Orchestra put out a 12″ single for Record Store Day featuring two collaborations, one with Grouplove and one with Frightened Rabbit. “Andy Hull’s solo album ‘Church Of The Great Thief’ was pretty much my favourite record of 2012, so when the opportunity arose for us to write a song together I jumped at the chance,” the late Scott Hutchison said at the time, and what they came out with was a gentle, lovely acoustic song that featured the two singers trading verses and harmonizing with each other. It’s up there with the best material that either band have ever released. (After Scott passed, Manchester paid tribute with a touching cover of “My Backwards Walk.”)

Manchester Orchestra and Grouplove – “Make It To Me”

Moving right along to the Grouplove collab from that same 12″. According to Andy, he sent Grouplove a “bare bone rock ditty” and they “transformed into an electronic explosion of funky grooves,” which very accurately describes this song. It’s a propulsive, very catchy song, and Andy, Christian Zucconi, and Hannah Hooper’s voices all sound great together.

Bad Books – “You Wouldn’t Have to Ask”

Andy’s gelled with many other singer/songwriters over the years, but perhaps none more than Kevin Devine, with whom he formed Bad Books with, a band that so far has went on to release three albums. Usually the songs either have one or the other singer on lead, sometimes with the other providing harmonies, but on this gem from Bad Books’ debut, Andy and Kevin sing in unison the whole time, like an indie-punk version of Simon & Garfunkel. Both have highly distinct voices, and on this song they come together to create something that really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Say Anything – “Six Six Six”

Say Anything have long been fond of guest vocalists, and this was perhaps clearest on 2014’s Hebrews, an album that favors string arrangements instead of guitars, and employs impressive guest singers on every single track. “Six Six Six” features Max Bemis joined by his wife Sherri DuPree-Bemis (of Eisley), Balance & Composure’s Jon Simmons, and Andy Hull, and Andy’s appearance is a major highlight. The otherwise-upbeat song turns into an airy ballad in the bridge, and Andy comes in with soaring, reverb-coated vocals that make the whole thing sound totally unworldly.

O’Brother – “Sputnik”

Manchester Orchestra took sludgy Atlanta post-hardcore band O’Brother under their wing early on, with Andy and his bandmate Robert McDowell producing their 2011 debut album Garden Window, which featured Andy singing on three songs. His most standout appearance came on “Sputnik.” The doomy, alt-rock-infused song is closer to Thrice than to Manchester Orchestra, but when Andy pops in, there’s no mistaking who it is, and his higher-pitched voice makes for a nice contrast to Tanner Merritt’s gravelly roar.

The Dear Hunter – “A Curse of Cynicism”

After helping to define progressive post-hardcore in The Receiving End of Sirens, Casey Crescenzo went even more prog with his next project, The Dear Hunter. Just about every Dear Hunter project is ambitious, and one of his most ambitious was The Color Spectrum, a series of nine EPs (Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, White) that all channelled different genres of music. The Red EP had a heavier, grungier sound, and it featured Andy Hull singing on three of its four songs. One of those, “A Curse of Cynicism,” also features O’Brother’s Tanner Merritt. It’s hard to pick just one of these songs, as all three are good for different reasons, but I went with “A Curse of Cynicism” because it’s one of the most fired-up vocal performances of Andy’s career. He really knows how to scream and shout without losing his sense of melody, and this song finds him doing that to the fullest.

The Front Bottoms & Manchester Orchestra – “Allentown”

In conjunction with the bands’ 2018 co-headlining tour, The Front Bottoms and Manchester Orchestra released the collaborative single “Allentown.” It’s much more ethereal than either band is usually known for being, and it finds Andy Hull and Brian Sella trading whispered verses in a melancholic duet. It’s a beautiful track.

Winston Audio – “Keeping It Down”

Winston Audio were a grungy band from Manchester Orchestra’s hometown of Atlanta, and their final album (2009’s The Red Rhythm) came out on Manchester Orchestra’s Favorite Gentleman label the same year Manchester Orchestra released their grungiest album, Mean Everything To Nothing. Andy was regularly churning out a shouted snarl in that era, and it fit perfectly on this grunge-punk ripper.

Paris Jackson – “eyelids”

Paris Jackson may be the daughter of Michael, but her own music is nothing at all like his. Her 2020 debut album Wilted channels the somber, indie-friendly pop that’s become common in the post-Lana Del Rey/Lorde/Billie Eilish world, with a few country flourishes here and there, and it features spacious, atmospheric production by Andy Hull and Robert McDowell. Andy also duets with Paris on the song “eyelids,” and he gives one of the most delicate performances of his career in the process. If you like Manchester Orchestra’s pin-drop songs like “I Can Feel Your Pain” and “I Can Feel A Hot One,” you’ll like this.

BONES – “TellMeSomethingIDontKnow”

Here’s one that’s unlike everything else on this list. In 2018, Andy hopped on a track by Oakland emo/cloud rapper BONES, and Andy’s hushed delivery is perfect for this song’s moody electronic production. In some ways, it’s not that’s different from the more electronic moments on The Million Masks of God.

Pick up Manchester Orchestra vinyl in our store, including new album The Million Masks of God (light blue vinyl) and their new Christmas album (red vinyl).