Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

I suppose I was expecting ' My Life in the Bush of Ghosts ' part 2. Quite frankly, I'm relieved to say I didn't get it. I always found that album a bit too esoteric, a bit too intellectual.This couldn't really be more different. The cover notes say that Brian Eno was influenced by American Gospel, amongst other things. Well, maybe, but the point is, he wanted the music 'to be inviting, to offer the listener a place inside it'.David Byrne's unmistakeable vocals go a long way to making this album so accessible. On top of that, it is so full of tuneful tracks. It's not simple, though. Maybe at times it seems almost naïve, but the lyrics are really quite subversive.The first track - 'Home' - opens with a squidgy synth beat and acoustic guitars. A lovely simple, sing-along tune, and David Byrne's soaring but slightly strained voice - you know, it almost reminds me of some of the tracks from ' O Brother, Where Art Thou? ' but the lyrics have just an edge to them:'Home - such a funny feeling Home - no-one ever speaking Home - with our bodies touching Home - with the cam'ras watching'So - not Simon and Garfunkel, then.The second track starts similarly: simple, effective - reminding me of some of the tracks from ' True Stories '.'I Feel My Stuff' is darker, striking piano, over-clear enunciation making it almost sound like the African click language, but then a backing chorus comes in like something off 'Walk on the Wild Side', with a 'voice-over' and - well! - a guitar solo (of sorts). That guitar sound is so familiar - almost ' For Your Pleasure '. Turns out, yes, it's Phil Manzanera.The title track is beautiful and has so many echoes to it. It reminds me of ' Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks ', it reminds me of ' Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) '.'Life Is Long' - wonderful! Has a great horn section, a clear and simple guitar solo, a totally sing-along tune, and wonderful left-field lyrics.'The River' is pretty much back to 'True Stories/Oh Brother' territory, based around a repetitive little riff and vocal harmonies.O.k. - I'm not going to go through every track; I hope you get the idea from these. But the other tracks continue to surprise, to get funky, retro, weird and tuneful.Overall, it's kind of a return to his roots for Eno; for Byrne, it is Talking Heads territory - the two together, though, make something quite special. Anyway, that combination should please an awful lot of people.I'm glad they printed the lyrics on the cover, and the picture of the two of them is classic - it's a lovely picture of David Byrne, reminds me of an older, distinguished George Clooney. And Brian looks so cool. Two Smiling Heads :-)

I bought this a couple of weeks ago and have listened to almost nothing else since. Odd, since it is by no means a flawless album. It just happens to have half a dozen tracks that are so infectious you find yourself humming them after only one or two hearings.From the opening chords of the opening track, Home, you know you are in the company of two men of a certain age, comfortable in themselves, their lives and their talent. The song has the nerve to skate close to Simon and Garfunkel and still emerge as a distinctively Byrnian piece: 'Home, with the heighbours fighting/Home, always so exciting/Home, were my parents telling the truth?' It sets the tone for a determinedly upbeat, anthemic, collection: even Byrne's delight in dystopia and dysfunction is carried off with jaunty delight. Far more True Stories than Bush of Ghosts.The second track, My Big Nurse, is the gentle star of the album. It has a melody that gets right under your skin right from the off. If listening on your MP3 player you will embarass yourself with good old fashioned foot tapping. And when the melody is picked up by the same unapologetic synth that joined in on Home, it reveals a simplicity that borders on the banality of a child's musical toy - and yet when the track ends after only three minutes you feel cheated: you could hum it forever.With I Feel My Stuff you fear this is one of those albums that opens strongly but fades away. It is a bland, over-produced amble. And even the title track that follows, for all its hymnal quality, doesn't quite deliver on its glorious hook line. But then the collection returns to its pure pop best with the sing-along Life is Long. And then another instantly catchy melody follows with The River.When Strange Melody starts up you think its going to turn into 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life': it's pure 80s. But the laugh is on us as Byrne sings 'This groove is out of fashion/these beats are twenty years old.' As if he didn't know what he was doing. Wanted for Life may be the album's quintessential track: '10 to 12 going to hang them high/wanted for life' is the crime-soaked lyric, yet it's the jolliest song of them all.The album's true final track is One Fine Day. You'll be so busy still singing it in your head you'll not even notice the two forgettable tracks that follow it.I can't imagine what this album would be like if they had hit bullseye on every track instead of a little over half of them. It would have been the most unbearably perfect piece of pop for decades. As it is, there's more than enough here to fall in love at first listening. And every time of returning will always be like greeting an old friend: far from perfect, but just great to be with.

I love David Byrne, I love Brian Eno, I love Talking Heads and I like all three elements together. So imagine my delight when I heard Messrs Byrne and Eno had made a new record together, their first since 1981's 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'. On hearing the record however, after some rather indifferent reviews, I felt rather let down: lovely sounds as always, courtesy of Eno, but I felt the songs were a little lacking. Oh how wrong I was! One month on and the scales fell from my eyes (or ears). It's a stunner: spiritual, uplifting, mediative and thoroughly, thoroughly infectious. I've had it on continuous rotation for weeks - it sounds especially good on an iPod, but make sure you get it at maximum bit rate. I saw the man himself singing these songs in concert in Antwerp last night and he was superb, just superb.The songs on the record need time to reveal themselves so be patient, but as someone recovering from the death of a loved one, I can tell you there is no better way to lift the spirits and rediscover the meaning of joy. Buy it!

I've followed Brian Eno since the first Roxy album and David Byrne since the first Talking Heads album. Only occasionally, but significantly, have they worked together. 'My life in the bush of ghosts' was their high point together, an album of revolutionary importance. Strangely, since I rate them individually so highly, I had few expectations of this album. I wondered how truly different it would be - would it be a rather predictable fusion? How great it has been to be so surprised. This is a really fine album. At times wistful, at times edgy and exciting, always lyrically and musically intriguing. Both BE and DB let go, creating something beyond what either could do on his own. And also beautiful. Beyond all, beautiful. A rich, very special album.