Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. 

Album: David Byrne, Big Love: Hymnal (TodoMundo)

Andy Gill
Friday 05 December 2008 01:00 GMT
Comments

Away from the fluff and nonsense of celebrity-driven pop, true artists continue to work at whatever takes their fancy.

David Byrne has been busy this year, with a singing-robot installation at a Madrid gallery, the Playing the Building interactive artwork in New York, and the installation there of bicycle racks designed by him. He also made a couple of albums, the Eno collaboration Everything That Happens Will Happen Today followed by this collection of instrumental pieces mostly written for the second series of Big Love, the Mormon drama. Conceived as what he calls "fake Mormon hymns", they're used to create a sound-world appropriate to a sealed-off culture. It's unmistakably American: many pieces have the flavour of old pioneer hymns that have since accrued the fuller arrangements reflecting the society's progress towards gentility – a discreetly pompous palette combining brass band horns, palm court orchestra strings, and the vibes, ululations and repetitive manner of 20th-century minimalism. The strongest echo is of Sufjan Stevens. On tracks like "Exquisite Whiteness", Byrne employs tonal and timbral contrasts that bring out the complex flavour of historical progress. A wistful, oddly sinister experience.

Pick of the album:'A Hill in Ontario County', 'The Breastplate of Righteousness', 'Exquisite Whiteness'

Click here to purchase this album

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in