We’re a couple days late with this one, but the latest cover from *Smallpox* is a haunting version of “Tea in the Sahara,” originally recorded by The Police. Thus far, the covers they’ve chosen have been all over the map, but a Police cover seemed, well, the least likely. Except that they’re Daniel Smith’s favorite band.

“Yeah, The Police are my favorite band ever,” explained Smith, “but I sort of hate Sting. And the thing is, I know for a fact that I’m not alone on this, so unless there’s another great band out there that everybody loves but hates the singer, including (and maybe especially) the band itself, I’m pretty sure that makes them the greatest band of all time.”

“There’s all the infamous stories about what a passive-aggressive asshole the guy was,” continues Smith, “like about how Andy and Stewart were only allowed to contribute two songs per album. Or how he refused to play on Andy’s song “Behind My Camel” and even went so far as to (literally) bury the tapes just to keep the song off the album. The song, by the way, went on to win a Grammy for best rock instrumental.”

“So yeah,” Daniel explains, “I LOVE The Police. But Sting can go get ebola.”

Enjoy the cover “here.”:https://dromedaryrecords.bandcamp.com/track/tea-in-the-sahara