St. Vincent & David Byrne
“Who” / “Weekend In The Dust”
Collaboration albums rarely live up to their billing, but one as intriguing as the Talking Heads mastermind David Byrne and indie guitar queen St. Vincent. So while we are a month away from their album, Love This Giant, release and a month and a week before I catch the duo live in Chicago, I figured we would shed some light on the first two songs of the project with a double song review.
First single, “Who”, don’t sound like either Talking Heads or St. Vincent, but rather boasts the big brass horns of some of Byrne’s more recent solo work. David Byrne takes the verses with St. Vincent only occasionally punching in, and St. Vincent takes the quiet cool of the chorus. Once the bridge comes around, the two join forces, harmonizing up into St. Vincent’s funky guitar breakdown. “Who” closes in a more theatrical fashion than one might expect, but the song is pure fun from the opening horn hook.
“Weekend In The Dust” is also highly brassy, but is a different sort of song altogether. St. Vincent carries all of the vocal duties, but puts together a song full of as many personalities as a Talking Heads song. “Weekend” opens with a hip hop drum sample and St. Vincent singing in rounds before the brass again brings the song to life. It’s undoubtedly unique in sound, but doesn’t quite match the height of “Who”
In 30 days, we will be bringing you the album review, and 37, the show review, but for now, take in the first of what is a promising and singular combination.
“Who” Rating: 9/11
“Weekend” Rating: 8/11
I am obsessed with St. Vincent and think she can do no wrong, but I was sadly underwhelmed when they released these songs. Definitely still gonna buy the album, though. Nice reviews!
I was underwhelmed also upon the first couple listens of these, but they have really grabbed a hold of me after that. I’m interested to see if the rest is in this same big funky direction, or if they explore a variety of sounds. Thanks for reading!
I can’t get enough of that ‘bone on “Weekend”