Hear Rostam Cover the Clash’s ‘Train in Vain (Stand by Me),’ Lucinda Williams’ ‘Fruits of My Labor’

Rostam has released an expanded edition of Changephobia via Matsor Projects/Secretly Distribution, which features his new covers of the Clash’s “Train in Vain (Stand by Me)” and Lucinda Williams’ “Fruits of My Labor.”

While he stays true to the general tone of both covers, he puts his improvisational spins on each of them, with his breathy take on Williams’ “Fruits of My Labor” and a reflective, drawn out vocal rendition for “Train in Vain.”

The expanded edition with its two additional covers follows the release of his sophomore LP singles “From the Back of a Cab,” “4Runner,” “These Kids We Knew” and “Unfold You.”

Changephobia is the follow-up to 2017’s Half-Light. Rostam culled his latest album while he was co-producing Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III and Clairo’s Immunity.

Rostam said change and gender were on his mind while penning the album. “I came to find myself writing about love and connection but not wanting to place relationships in a gendered context,” he said. “This collection of songs is not celebrating a fear of change. Rather, it’s the opposite. It’s about who we are capable of becoming if we recognize these fears in ourselves and rise above them.”