David Byrne & Brian Eno - "Life Is Long" (mp3)

Though by all accounts it was the product of a pretty spontaneous, organic creative process, it's very tempting to look at Everything That Happens Will Happen Today as a calculated attempt to drum up interest in David Byrne's solo career at this late date. Or maybe I'm looking at it that way because that's the effect it had on me: like probably a lot of people, I haven't paid much attention to his work since the split of the Talking Heads (I think I carried a copy of Feelings around a record store for a few minutes when I was 15, but never took it to the register), and I value the band's work with Brian Eno over most out of their discography. So a sudden collaboration between Byrne and Eno, with an announced online release and sneaky online campaign, is a pretty sly way to get a lapsed fan like me interested, whether or not it's intended in exactly that way.

And Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is pretty damn nice, with both guys employing their facility for melody when they have a lot of other talents they could prioritize. Bryne's always had a pretty nice, expressive voice for wistful midtempo material lurking underneath all the tics and tricks that defined him throughout the Heads' run. And it's when he sounds sincere that the album works best; when you hear him stretch his voice into some strange shape or deliver a turn of phrase with an arched eyebrow, it clangs because the delicate, serene music isn't built for that. "Wanted For Life" is a completely irritating misstep, while even the left turns that work kind of hit a sour patch, like "I Feel My Stuff," which has a great, stirring beginning full of inventive little piano runs, but gets tiresome by the end of its six minutes. So it's the sinuous melodies of songs like "Life Is Long" or "Strange Overtones" that work best with the beds of sound Eno has set up; it's the same reason his production has proven so compatible with the earnest sincerity of U2 and, more recently, Coldplay.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at 6:52 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.