08/06/08
Text: Scott Indrisek
We don't always agree with each other—here's a counterpoint to an earlier opinion.
I once got in a fight with an old boss for claiming that David Byrne was as relevant now as he was back in the heyday of Talking Heads. The boss in question stared at me like I was slightly damaged—did I really think, was I really being moronic enough to assert, that this snowy-haired old man was as much of a vital force as he was when he (and I paraphrase) taught white kids to dance again?
At the time I tucked my music snob tail between my legs and hobbled off. And now, here it is the summer of 2008 and Mr. Byrne has just released a new single off his forthcoming collaboration with Brian Eno, a sort of follow-up to their oh-so-influential My Life In The Bush of Ghosts. (He’s also turned a maritime warehouse into a musical instrument and erected a series of artistic bike racks around Manhattan, if you’re keeping score. Oh, and the sly fox is dating Cindy Sherman.)
So about this single. It’s called “Strange Overtones,” and you can stream it for free here, and it’s goddamn fantastic in a way that should make you happy to be alive and ambulant in a world where David Byrne exists. Brian Eno’s instrumentation is predictably incredible and surprisingly anthemic, almost making up for his involvement with the new Coldplay record.
The full album is called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today; the title reminds us of something that friend-of-David-Byrne Miranda July might conjure. It’s being released on August 18th. We’ll be sitting here, waiting, trying not to hyperventilate.
