David Byrne - Lead Us Not Into Temptation
(Thrill Jockey)
David Byrne is a man who needs absolutely no introduction. So, I won't give him one.
As is expected with a soundtrack, the songs aren't really intended for consumption in the same way as a regular album. They are intended to work with certain images, tones and themes in the movie to evoke different moods. However, occasionally, soundtracks can be enjoyed as they are, without the accompanying images. This is most certainly the case with David Byrne's stunning Lead Us Not Into Temptation. The movie is "Young Adam" which is about a Scottish beat poet, Alexander Trocchi, and his menacing, sexual, drug addled, and in all respects decadent wanderings (played by Ewan McGregor).
In an attempt to capture the latent energy of the filmmaker's, Trocchi's, and his own homeland, David Byrne decided to use Scottish musicians instead of the New Yorkers he would have normally used. He of course tapped into the great Glasgow scene and rented out members of such great bands as Belle & Sebastian, Appendix Out and Mogwai, among others.
He directed them by giving them a stark framework of what he wanted (he would tell them which notes they could play for certain passages, and they could choose how and when). What resulted is a strikingly evocative (even without having seen the movie), varied, and engaging collection of short musical ideas (none over 5 minutes). From the reworking of Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" to the waves of drone in "Mnemonic Discordance" to the lilting "Inexorable," "The Lodger," and "Body in a River" this album takes Eno's ideas about ambient music to heart. And compared to some of Eno's ambient records, this would easily come out on top. Byrne keeps the songs instrumental up to the last two songs. The vocals he does use are subdued and perfectly match the mood of the songs.
David Byrne appears to have had a well-planned idea of what he wanted, because even when the music is subtle and minimal, it is always heading somewhere. None of these songs are aimless or needlessly redundant. Among the countless soundtracks, few can stand up without the images they were hinged upon accompanying. Not only does this stand on its own, but I'm skeptical that the movie could live up to its soundtrack.
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