Friendly Fires are the latest artists to curate a mix for the Late Night Tales series. Released last month, the 30th volume  in the collection not only makes room for Cocteau Twins, Space, and Stereolab, but Olivia Newton-John too.

In the middle of the St. Albans trio’s selection of others’ tunes tailored to post-twilight listening is their newly recorded cover of Eberhard Schoener‘s “Why Don’t You Answer?” The electronic classic appears on the German composer’s 1978 album, Flashback, which featured Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers prior to the trio gaining acclaim as The Police.

“Sting used to be cool! Check out the original of this song and believe it,” says Friendly Fires’ Jack Savidge. “Eberhard Schoener was a modern classical composer going through a Krautrock phase and Sting lent his vocals and uniquely crunchy sense of melody to this track. We tried to cover it in a way that would fit in with the rest of the tracklist, while maintaining the clean-lines and sleek motorik of the original.”

The video for Friendly Fires’ “Why Don’t You Answer? was directed by newcomer Fred Rowson, who drew inspiration from nocturnal L.A. crime dramas like Drive and Heat, as well as early 20th century British ghost stories.

Remixes of “Why Don’t You Answer?” by Jay Shepherd and Hot Since 82 are out now. Take a behind-the-scenes look at Friendly Fires’ recording, including Ed Macfarlane’s use of a dictaphone for his vocals.

Purchase Friendly Fires – “Why Don’t You Answer?” (Eberhard Schoener cover) via iTunes, Amazon MP3.