The modern artist David Byrne said he could learn from: “Completely knocked me out”
I feel encouraged when I see legacy artists, like David Byrne, engaging with contemporary music.
In the modern landscape, it would be all too easy for certain musicians to steer firmly into nostalgia. Because lord knows there is money in the idea that music today isn’t as good as it used to be. Just looked at the incessant rollout of reunion tours and comeback albums that populate column inches of most of the major news outlets across the world.
Blocking opportunity and undermining present-day art is in vogue for artists of a certain generation, and so when a legend brazenly bucks that trend, it has positive ramifications for the future of the music industry. And while meme culture has tried its best to parody David Byrne’s continued engagement with new artists, be it Olivia Rodrigo, Maggie Rogers or St Vincent.
Given Byrne’s mercurial nature as a musician, it’s unsurprising then that he took encouragement from an artist like Lorde. She’s as elusive and nimble as Byrne was in terms of crafting her songwriting style over the top of different musical styles and genres, and has carried the torch he first lit in the 1980s.
Both artists share a sort of performative contrast. It’s apparent that they are both deeply introverted artists, whose music builds on the back of their own intimacy. It’s a characteristic that feels palpable on stage, yet somehow both artists manage to portray a sense of blissful showmanship that sees them wholly immersed in the musical worlds they have created.
In fact, Lorde remarked on this paradox and how it inspired her own performance. Recalling a performance of ‘Take Me to the River’, she asked Byrne why he failed to blink through the entire song.
“Oh yes, not human. No blinking. I think at that point, I must have been very nervous and terrified. I imagine my movements were probably twitchy. But it was fine. That’s me. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, that’s just what I do.”
Similar idiosyncrasies run through Lorde’s contemporary performance style. She’s expressive and dynamic, and almost at one with the music. Sometimes, it feels as though she is operating on a higher artistic frequency, where her music and ideas are built upon layers and layers of textures, akin to Talking Heads à la Speaking In Tongues. But Byrne noticed, it is, in fact, the opposite.
“I heard your music ages ago” he told Lorde. Adding, “One of the things that struck me was how minimal it was. There was a lot going on in the vocal area with harmonies, but musically, it was stripped down — just what you need as far as beats and keyboards, and no more. Which completely knocked me out. I thought, ‘I could learn from that’.”
While Lorde quickly rebutted the praise and added that her production style has grown to be more maximal, the point is that both artists identify a key trope of being a modern great. Ideas need not be as simple as such, but clearly executed and honestly portrayed. Byrne didn’t change music in the 1980s by throwing shit at a wall and hoping it stuck, and nor did Lorde.
The ideas were traditional in their structure and innovative in their packaging, which is ultimately why they are such kindred spirits.
