David ByrneLove This Giant, the collaboration between ex-Talking Head and art-pop figurehead David Byrne and guitar virtuoso and indie rock darling Annie Clark – aka St. Vincent – is a tough sell. Why? Because it's David Byrne and Annie Clark. Before a note is struck, the expectations are stratospheric. This 12-track album doesn't reach those heights – and it certainly tries – yet it's difficult to state why.
On paper it seems like the perfect idea – two pop adventurers unafraid to push the medium, to build tracks from brass foundations (thanks to Antibalas and the Dap Kings amongst others) and branch out into the ether. But much of Love This Giant, whilst impeccably realised and sonically silky, feels distant and detached. Clark's often-haunting vocals are pared back here, possibly to be more in tune with Byrne's baroque croon, thus watering down their juxtaposition of voice. Furthermore Clark's guitar is often lost in the mix, a monumental error in judgement. Thus there's Dinner For Two, an edgy slink of a track that may as well be a Lynch solo, whilst the less said about Weekend In The Dust and The Forest Awakes the better.
There are some bona fide gems here though, such as the excellent one-two punch of I Should Watch TV and Lazarus holding up the middle third, and are the closest to harnessing both artists' collective powers. Love This Giant may be a little too aloof, but it has effectively burst the bubble, and there are enough good ideas here and an overload of potential that such disappointments may be fruitful in the long run. Let's hope that they have another crack at it.
