David Byrne has been talking about this since back in 2010, and finally his collaboration with St. Vincent’s Annie Clark is here: Love This Giant, a 12-track LP featuring ten original tunes penned as a pair along with two individual cuts. Guests include the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, and John Congleton, who co-produced St. Vincent’s last LP, Strange Mercy, and provided beats for Love This Giant. Byrne said:
When John Congleton added some beats, we could see a surprisingly song-centric record emerging. A lot of people, hearing a description of this project, assumed that it might be an artsy indulgence, but somehow it didn’t turn out that way. It’s a pop record—well, in my book anyway.
Below, download/stream the album’s excellent opening track, “Who”.
St. Vincent and Byrne have also announced a fall tour, adding: “We’ll be doing these songs and a bunch of songs that we suspect people will know, with a group that includes eight brass players, a keyboardist and a drummer.”