Strange Overtones
"Strange Overtones" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by David Byrne and Brian Eno | ||||
from the album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today | ||||
Released | August 4, 2008 | |||
Recorded | Demoed in Eno's London home studio (2006), finished by Byrne and Leo Abrahams in New York City (2008) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:17 | |||
Todo Mundo | ||||
Songwriter(s) | David Byrne and Brian Eno, with Leo Abrahams | |||
Producer(s) | David Byrne and Brian Eno, with additional production by Leo Abrahams | |||
David Byrne and Brian Eno singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
David Byrne singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Brian Eno singles chronology | ||||
|
"Strange Overtones" is a song recorded by David Byrne and Brian Eno, written by the duo with Leo Abrahams. It was released on August 4, 2008 by means of free download as the lead single from Byrne's and Eno's second collaborative studio album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008). "Strange Overtones" is an uptempo electronic gospel song, and its lyrics explore the themes of humanity overcoming technology that are central to the album. "Strange Overtones" was well received by critics, and was downloaded 40,000 times in its first three days of release.
Recording and release
While discussing the 2006 remix of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts at a dinner party, Eno suggested finishing some songs that he had written but that did not have lyrics.[1] Byrne visited Eno's studio to listen to the demos and the two decided to collaborate to finish writing the songs. They continued working on the tracks in New York City and London, with regular e-mail correspondence to finish the composition.[2] Multi-instrumentalist and previous Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams performed guitar, percussion instruments, and piano in his London home studio and played guitar with Byrne on one occasion.[3] Abrahams would continue working on the tracks in his home studio through May 2008, with all collaborations being carried on via e-mail.[2]
"Strange Overtones" is the first single off the album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The track was released for free[4] on August 4, 2008, as a DRM-free MP3 available only through the album's website. This is part of the unorthodox Internet-based marketing scheme the two used to promote the album,[5] inspired by the success of Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows[6] and the self-promotional strategies of Nine Inch Nails for the albums Year Zero, Ghosts I–IV, and The Slip.[7] In September 2008, Jon Yeo created a music video for the track featuring the paintings of Eno.[8]
A live recording of the song also appeared on
In 2020, the song was covered by the indie rock group Whitney on their covers album, Candid.[10][11]
Composition
Eno has also said the album is about "paint[ing] a picture of the human trying to survive in an increasingly digital world;"[6] themes that are explored in this song. "Strange Overtones" has been described as "a song about writing a song"[12]—the subject of the song struggles to write innovative music, but is overheard by a neighbor using beats that are "twenty years old." In terms of the genre of music, both Byrne[13] and Eno[12] have called it "electronic Gospel"—the backing tracks are the kind of electronic music for which Eno is known, paired with hopeful and inspiring lyrics from Byrne—[14] this song in particular features an uptempo backing track.[4] Eno had been thinking about Gospel for several years,[15] but couldn't write lyrics to hopeful songs.[16]
Eno considers the album "[S]omething that combines something very human and fallible and personal, with something very electronic and mathematical sometimes." And they tried to "make that picture of the human still trying to survive in an increasingly complicated digital world... It's quite easy to make just digital music and it's quite easy to make just human music, but to try and make a combination is sort of, exciting, I think."[17] Byrne considered his job as lyricist to "bring more humanity" to Eno's instrumentals, which can be "cold and academic."[18]
Reception
The song was downloaded over 40,000 times in its first three days of availability.[19] One of the earliest reviews for "Strange Overtones" was on the August 11, 2008, episode of NPR's All Songs Considered.[20] The Los Angeles Times called the track "intimate"[21] and Stereogum[22] echoed this by labeling it "warm"; it also received a positive review from Rolling Stone.[23]
Ranking 60th for the year, this song was one of several from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today which appeared on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop singles poll for 2008—"Life Is Long" placed 337, "My Big Nurse" was 350, "Everything That Happens" ended up at 748, and "I Feel My Stuff" reached 942. In addition, a vote was cast for "Strange Undertones".[31]
Personnel
- Dubreq Stylophone, programming, co-production
- David Byrne – vocals, rhythm guitar, production, composition
- Brian Eno – backing vocals, organ solo, Omnichord piano, keyboards, programming, production, composition
- Steve Jones – delay guitar
- Mauro Refosco – bongo, conga, tambourine
- Seb Rochford – live drums
- Robert Wyatt – frame drum solo[32]
See also
References
- ^ Byrne, David. "DavidByrne.com — Everything That Happens Will Happen Today". David Byrne. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
- ^ a b Abrahams, Leo (May 18, 2008). "Pie 'n' mash with Brian Eno". Leo Abrahams. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Abrahams, Leo (April 6, 2008). "Unexpected Prog Roast". Retrieved April 22, 2009.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b "Dynamic Duo". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
- ^ Byrne, David (August 4, 2008). "David Byrne Journal: 08.04.2008: 'Strange Overtones' Available". David Byrne. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
- ^ a b "Eno: "I've stopped buying CDs"". Yahoo!. August 8, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ Fernández Escobar, Ramón (February 21, 2009). "Genios reunidos". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved June 8, 2011.
Tras las experiencias de Radiohead o Nine Inch Nails y lo mucho que había escrito sobre el tema, creí que debíamos llevarlo a la práctica.
- ^ Dogonaut (September 4, 2008). ""Strange Overtones" video". David Byrne. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
- ^ Lapatine, Scott (July 20, 2010). "David Byrne, St. Vincent Collaborate With Bang On A Can's Asphalt Orchestra". Stereogum. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
- ^ Whatley, Jack (August 5, 2020). "Listen to Whitney's cover of David Byrne and Brian Eno's 'Strange Overtones'". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ^ "Whitney cover David Byrne and Brian Eno's "Strange Overtones": Stream". Consequence of Sound. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ^ a b Coles, Mark (August 8, 2008). "Brian Eno and David Byrne reunite in the return of the digital masters — Times Online". The Times. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
- ^ "Side Dish: David Byrne performs with Paul Simon". Daily News. New York City, New York, United States. April 11, 2008.
- ^ O'Donnell, Paul (February 11, 2009). "David Byrne's Spiritual, Not Riveting Albums". Beliefnet. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ "The Current Presents: Brian Eno". The Current Presents. Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. October 2, 2009. 47 minutes in. KCMP.
- ^ "The Current Presents: Brian Eno". The Current Presents. Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. October 2, 2009. 50 minutes in. KCMP.
- ^ "BBC - 6 Music — Eno on Byrne". BBC News. August 4, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
- The Sunday Star-Times. January 4, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- New York Times.
- National Public Radio. August 11, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- ^ Kosinski, T. J. (August 12, 2008). "'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today' for Eno and Byrne". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
- ^ "New David Byrne & Brian Eno – "Strange Overtones"". Stereogum. August 4, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the originalon August 22, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- Pitchfork Media. December 15, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- Pitchfork Media. August 17, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ "Top 89 of 2003 – Picks from The Current Staff". KCMP. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ Wheat, Mark (December 3, 2009). "The Year In Music: The Current Picks 10 Songs Of 'Home'". NPR. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
- ^ "Pazz & Jop 2008 Singles — All Votes". The Village Voice. January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
- ^ "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today credits". David Byrne. August 18, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.