Between Two Ferns, the Zach Galifianakis comedy series, is full of awkward celebrity encounters and interviews gone haywire. Between Two Ferns: The Movie, a feature-length offshoot streaming now on Netflix, expands on the concept by taking Galifianakis' weird low-budget talk show on the road — in the process stuffing strange surprises into the margins as much as possible.

One of those surprises is the appearance of a gorgeous new song called "Walking on a String." Presented as a barroom duet between singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers and The National frontman Matt Berninger, it's a gorgeous vehicle for two weary and wonderful voices that pair up perfectly.

Now, "Walking on a String" is getting an official release in the form of a lush studio recording that builds to a magnificent cataclysm. If Galifianakis weren't right there in Tom Berninger and Chris Sgroi's lovely black-and-white video, it'd be easy to forget the song's unlikely origins. But there he is, presiding over a bit of gorgeous, unlikely musical alchemy.

"Walking on a String" is out now via Dead Oceans.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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