David Byrne and St. Vincent, ‘Who’ – Song Review
You know that saying about chocolate and peanut butter? The same goes for David Byrne and Annie Clark (you know her as St. Vincent), an intergenerational avant pop Reese’s cup collaboration that has given us one of the most concisely strange songs we’ve heard yet this year, called ‘Who.’
Haunted and grooving, the track bursts open with horns. Byrne sings oblique lyrics regarding companionship (“Who will split this taxi cab?“) and Clark sings back the chorus with questions (“Who is an honest man?“) The track ends with Byrne, Clark and the band all together: “All around the table, everybody’s staring.”
It gets a little tense.
The song feels a bit more Byrne’s than Clark’s, what with his signature zany existentialisms (“Who is this inside of me?” is a short length away from “This is not my beautiful wife!”). There is a definite glow of Talking Heads wide-eyed weirdness all about the track, further animated by Clark’s haunting voice.
The duo’s put together an entire album, ‘Love This Giant,’ due out Sept. 10. They’ll go on a 24-date tour in September as well. Look for coverage of each here.
Listen to David Byrne & St. Vincent, ‘Who’
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