‘One Touch’: The LCD Soundsystem song that “almost killed” James Murphy
LCD Soundsystem have become synonymous with a kind of electronic music that has the ability to transport the listener to euphoric highs while making them look inwardly, due to their often introspective lyricism and unsettling instrumental arrangements.
On their 2010 record, This Is Happening, the New York musical project helmed by multi-instrumentalist James Murphy reached dizzy new heights, now nearly a decade into their discography, elevating their already instantly recognisable sound. The album had a lot to live up to as the follow-up to LCD Soundsystem’s stellar sophomore Sound of Silver, which spawned some of their biggest hits, including ‘All My Friends’ and ‘North American Scum’.
Despite the album’s critical and commercial success, Murphy has pinpointed one particular song on This Is Happening as being extremely difficult to finish: “I kept oscillating back and forth between this John Cale version and this country version I had in my head. The song nearly killed me for two-and-a-half weeks, but I couldn’t get my head around it. I hated it, then fell back in love with it.”
The song in question is ‘One Touch’, a futuristic seven-and-a-half minute number submerged in scuzzy synthesisers, pulsating drum machines, and lyrics that yearn for human connection. Nestled between staple hits like ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ and ‘I Can Change’, ‘One Touch’ ventures further into the 1970s art rock realm Murphy’s music has often drawn parallels with. Murphy wrote the song with long-time collaborators and LCD Soundsystem members Rayna Russom and Nancy Wang. The former provides whispered vocals, while the latter yells the track’s title during its chorus.
Lyrically, the song enunciates the speaker’s thoughts and fears of intimacy, as Murphy sings: “We’ve been patient such a long time. No one is dangerous. We are not dangerous.” The music mimics the conflicted emotions, building up and instilling a sense of unrest in the listener, before fading out to an isolated drum loop and white noise in its final minute. In typical LCD fashion, it is lyrically sparse and musically dense, with Murphy enlisting an array of drum machines, synthesisers, and even a glockenspiel adding to the overall chaos of the track. Murphy is no stranger to unusual song structures, but it is clear that ‘One Touch’ provided him with a new challenge.
Murphy has a real knack for referencing and repurposing melodies, so it is no wonder that Murphy cites John Cale as an influence on the track. Cale is known for his chameleonic nature, with a career spanning six decades and multiple genres. From his early days as a founding member of fellow New York outfit The Velvet Underground in the 1960s and his unpredictable solo performances throughout the ‘70s, to his acclaimed work as a producer for a multitude of artists, and scores across television and film, Cale’s impact on modern music is enduring. Cale has even shown his admiration for LCD Soundsystem, covering their signature song ‘All My Friends’ as a b-side for its 2007 single release.
But the idea of LCD Soundsystem potentially producing a country version of ‘One Touch’ may come as a surprise with the project being firmly rooted in art rock, synth-pop, and electronica. It is, however, testament to Murphy’s talent and eclecticism as a songwriter and producer. ‘One Touch’ only received its live debut in November 2023, becoming a setlist staple during LCD Soundsystem’s 12-date residency at Brooklyn Steel. One can only assume in recent years Murphy has indeed fallen back in love with the track.
