David Byrne last worked with Brian Eno on 1981’s “My Life In The Bush of Ghosts.” But clearly Eno has continued to influence Byrne long after their collaborative phase together. His latest recording, “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” immediately recalls Eno’s vast ambient music, as well as the minimalism of composer Philip Glass, with whom Byrne has also worked.
Reflecting on the album in a press release, Byrne described using John Cage-ian techniques of “indeterminacy” during its recording.
“I handed out bits of paper for specific scenes and said, ‘Here are the notes you can play on this scene — you can play them whenever you want, and in whenever order you want’,” he said.
In the late 1970s, Eno, along with Byrne and his former band, the Talking Heads, experimented with a similar method of recording. This was Eno’s “oblique strategies,” a system of card cues that helped guide the music-making process along.
This is not to say that Byrne’s work is in any way a derivative of Eno’s, or anyone else’s. But often, in the case of instrumental recordings, it’s helpful to give a reference point to describe the sound. In the case of “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” think Eno crossed with the ethereal jazz of “Twin Peaks.”
The 15 tracks have a haunting, melancholic sensibility. The song titles — such as “Mnemonic Discordance,” “Ineluctable” or ” Sex on the Docks” — seem to suggest this as well. The choice of instrumentation blends the album into one cohesive movement. Byrne’s later recordings have increasingly been dominated by strings — violins, cellos and so on — and this album is no exception. Byrne is a guitarist, but his instrument is used sparingly in the mix, and often not at all. Here, he seems to be content to play the role of musical director. There’s even a cover of Charles Mingus’s “Haitian Fight Song,” solidifying the jazz factor.
It might be worth mentioning that “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” also serves a movie score for David Mackenzie’s upcoming film, “Young Adam.” This is Byrne’s first movie score since 1989’s “The Last Emperor” (which, along with co-composers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su, won an Academy Award for best musical score).
Yet, to call “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” merely an instrumental album is a fallacy because Byrne’s voice and lyrics do make an appearance on “Speechless” and “The Great Western Road,” the album’s final two cuts.
The former is a seemingly nonsensical Byrne-scat, whereas the latter is an orchestral ballad, tinged with his lyrical social commentary. This track is devastatingly alive with Byrne’s vocal range running the gamut. He sings, “How they dance — in a trance / where the river bends / here we go — don’t cha know / that it never ends / some who ride, some who slide / everyone you know / travels on — that great western road.” The song has a resolution that seems to lift the album out of its perpetual (but devastatingly beautiful) sadness.
It may be noted that Byrne is now a 51-year-old musician. Yet, he remains the poster child for youth, growth and reinvention. His music (along with his photography, writing, and artwork) continues to indicate a desire for evolution and innovation, while always remaining playful. “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” is highly recommended and now available everywhere, on both compact disc and vinyl.