A NEW TAKE on one of Shane MacGowan’s songs has just landed, with Johnny Depp and Imelda May teaming up for a reworked version of Haunted.

The track is the second single from the upcoming tribute album 20th Century Paddy – The Songs of Shane MacGowan.

The release follows an earlier tribute song by Bruce Springsteen, who covered A Rainy Night in Soho.

Originally written for the Sid and Nancy soundtrack, Haunted became best known as a 1995 duet between MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor.

Depp, a friend of MacGowan, said recording the track felt like “more than just” a collaboration, describing it as a way of honouring two artists who “told the truth when the rest of us were still working up the courage”.

“Shane was one of the greatest poets of his generation. His words have a way of cutting right through you, they did to us, and I think that’s exactly what you hear in the song,” Depp said.

“And Sinéad, there was simply nobody like her. That voice, her courage, the refusal to be anything less than completely herself. You only experience talent like that once in a lifetime, if you’re lucky.”

Losing them both felt like the world losing two of its most necessary voices.

May echoed that sentiment, calling MacGowan a “gifted poet” whose writing continues to resonate, and said performing the song was “filled with huge love” for both him and O’Connor.

“It’s such an honour to pay tribute to my beloved friends soon after losing both precious souls in such a short space of time,” May said.

The album itself is being brought together by MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke, and features a wide lineup of Irish and international artists, including Hozier, Jessie Buckley, Tom Waits and The Pogues.

Half of all artist royalties from the project will go to homeless charity Dublin Simon Community.

20th Century Paddy is due for release on 13 November.

So, what do you think of the cover of the song?