Every year since 2009, the impressively consistent Sondre Lerche has premiered a contemporary cover song on Stereogum around Christmastime. (The first one was a take on Animal Collective’s “My Girls.”) Last year the Norwegian musician did a Ryuichi Sakamoto-inspired interpretation of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!,” and today, he’s shared his cover for 2025: Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile.” And yes, he knows that song actually came out in 2024.
Here’s what Lerche has to say about this year’s acoustic-pop cover:
I just found out I’ve made a huge mistake. Five hours into recording this year’s annual Christmas cover, I realized that the song we are recording was in fact released in August of 2024. Which goes against the rules of the ritual: every year since 2013 my longtime-producer/friend Matias Téllez (Girl In Red, Maisie Peters, AURORA) and I get together in his studio in Bergen to decide on one huge hit from the year that’s about to end, which we then spend the rest of the day recording.
The very next day I give it away, sharing the recording with my fans + followers of Stereogum as a Christmas gift to all. It is now simply too late to turn this ship around and pick another song. Christmas won’t wait. And to be fair, the song in question appears to be the best-selling and best-streaming song of 2025, in addition to also being the year’s most-played song on US radio. And yet I haven’t met a single person so far who can remember ever hearing it. It’s a mystery! Who are these all these people? Who am I? Am I too far down my own echo chamber? Is this the definite end of monoculture, when even the most overwhelmingly popular song of the year is a stranger to the us all? My recording of “Die With A Smile” by Bruno Mars & Lady Gaga certainly won’t make much of a difference in that regard. But it’s a great, classic song. The original recording sounds beautiful, elegant, powerful, timeless. It’s almost a wonder it was so huge in 2025 (as opposed to 1975). A lot of that has to do with it being performed (and written) by two of the world’s most charismatic and dramatic singers. But I think I’ve also developed a soft spot for it because it kinda sounds like some very elegant indie record Matias might’ve have produced and recorded in his scrappy studio Bergen, circa 2015. Naturally, our version today won’t sound anything like that. My instinct was to make it groovy, primitive, minimalist and bombastic.
As I type this I am about to go record the vocals, with a slight cold — sorry in advance. And then Matias will mix and master the song in a hurry, before go out for a plate of the traditional Bergen specialty persetorsk (a local cod-dish).
But that was all yesterday, and now you can hear it. We hope you enjoy it!
It’s been yet another dystopian year, and no one song has been able to solve humanity’s considerable blind-spots, puzzles and failings this year, either. But we keep trying. I’ve been mostly occupied with the completion of my next album, the follow-up to Avatars Of Love. It’s all done and I can’t wait to release it in the year to come. But first: an EP of three songs written and recorded in the same breath as the new album will be released on January 7th. The EP is called Turning Up The Heat Again and it’s a palette cleanser before the main course. As the year wears on, all will come to the table. See you in 2026!
Keep in touch, happy holidays and thanks for listening.
Love, peace and anti-fascism for all,
SL
Leche has also shared a playlist of his 50 favorite songs that were actually released in 2025 (there’s a good amount of overlap with our lists, but some new discoveries in there too). Check out Lerche and Matias Téllez’s “Die With A Smile” cover below.
