Tommy Stinson’s Bash & Pop outfit and Nicole Atkins channel the lessons of 1960s soul balladry on “Too Late.” The track is part of a forthcoming 7-inch single due out November 24th.

 

 
Rhythm guitar and drums drive “Too Late” along the steady, lilting path of a Stax ballad. Strings flit through the background to enhance the drama of Stinson and Atkins’ weary back-and-forth. “It’s too late, cupid’s done kicking this can,” Atkins sings. “It’s too late to walk hand in hand,” agrees Stinson.

 

In a statement, Stinson explained that “Too Late” was an old track that he revived when he decided to work with Atkins. “After hearing [Atkins’ song] ‘Goodnight Rhonda Lee,’ a lightbulb exploded over my head and I knew I had to get Nicole to sing a song with us that I had written nearly 12 years ago, recorded several times, and ultimately never captured properly,” he said. The other collaboration with Atkins on the 7″ is titled “Saturday.”

 
Stinson, known for his time in the Replacements and Guns N’ Roses, put out a new LP as Bash & Pop in January. He recruited members of The Hold Steady, Guns N’ Roses, North Mississippi All-Stars and Mighty Mighty Bosstones to record with him. “It was like, ‘That’s a take. It’s done. Move on,'” he told Rolling Stone. “… That’s the way the best records we know in history have been made.”