It’s been a long way to the shop for LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. He had humble beginnings as a less than successful US punk rocker, through the accidental acquisition of fame as a DJ, ending up where he is now: an in-demand hipper-than-Jesus DJ and producer. LCD Soundsystem is just about to release a new album called “Sound of Silver” as the follow up to his cult-classic “LCD Soundsystem” album which contained the very club-playable and played ‘Tribulations’, ‘Daft Punk is playing at my house’ and ‘Disco Infiltrator’. Previews of first single ‘North American Scum’ deliver a hopeful verdict for the new album. It’s slacker disco at its finest, with Murphy drawling wryly about being North American in the Bush age and getting away with it. Promos are selling for stupid amounts on online and the dance press are foaming like the Pavlov’s disco dogs they/we are. I’m already flashing forward to kids on the dancefloor mouthing the words and nodding, only half recognising what they’re singing: and that half is in itself a subversive victory for social comment in the opinion-deficient void of the blank generation.
The rest of the album… from the little I was given access to for one night by the nice people at EMI – well it seems in keeping with the LCD formula of – dare I say it again?( Well I think I might because I might just earn an NME-worthy stripe and coin a phrase if I repeat it often enough) – infectious and slightly off kilter slacker disco. Loose enough that you can’t accuse Murphy of being too serious, tight enough that you can’t say he’s all fashion and no substance, and cynical/deadpan enough that you can’t help but crack a wry smile. There’s a possibility that there are some great tracks on there. I’d have to listen again, for longer. What there is, in a very anti slacker and anti punk kind of move, is a concept. “Sound of Silver” is, my friends, an actual ‘concept album’ in the tradition of great 70’s prog albums, but minus the wizards and duelling guitar solos. James Murphy took approximately 20 minutes out of his halcyon daze to shmooze up ITM, and get subjected to various Alans Parson Project jibes for making a concept album.
So, James – talk us through this concept album thingy? (insert prog rock joke #1 here). “The new album, Sound of Silver, is about – silver.” Ok, I was hoping for a bit more, James. So what’s it “about”? “ I don’t write songs about things. I was trying to make a silver album. I made an aesthetic choice. It’s also me trying to write using a creative game I play on myself. When you’re creatively stuck, apply an emotion to every idea. It is an arrogant idea, really, to humanise things – silver is a thing. An example: when I’m laying down vocals, I’ll play a game with it – what if I didn’t sing like I’m supposed to, what if I pushed it to sound like something else? For this album, I pushed everything to sound more silver. I wrote a love song to New York on this album, and approached the song like that – I made it feel silver. I think from playing that game there’s more singing – which for me is more embarrassing. It forced me not to be ‘tasteful’ so much. Silver – the sound or feel of it – means 2nd place, means space. Silver is more disco, cocaine failure, laser gun, mirror ball, angry space…”
Did you make the album in a metal room? Or some kind of Andy Warhol-like silver lined warehouse? Where did you come up with all of this? “It took about 5 weeks in the spring and another 3 or 4 weeks in October November, so we recorded it in 2 stages. Half of it was written on a farm in Massachusets and the other half in a studio in NYC. My studio is in the basement of my recording company (DFA Recordings), so it’s easy to get distracted there by label related stuff .I went to the country to get away from people. – I love the country!”
Seriously??? I say incredulously. The last thing that comes to mind when I think of James and his DFA label mates is the Debbie-Sue and Johnny-Joe filled yokel townships of the states, with snaggletoothed pensioners whittlin’ on porches. Or is it not all like Deliverance out there? “I want to get a farm in the next year or so.” James retorts enthusiastically. “ I would be alone with my wife, I’d love that! I’m from a small town. I love the country; I just don’t like the suburbs. The small towns in the country are a lot different from the suburbs. The suburbs in America are still racist backward places. In the country you have really weird people who develop in isolation. It’s really diverse, there are a lot of weirdos, and lots of solid people. In the suburbs you get dumb people – a monoculture. Whereas in the city and the country, you get interesting people. I want to save people from the suburbs, it’s a terrible place.”
So ‘North American Scum’ is about the ‘burbs, then? I must say that song doesn’t seem very “silver”, actually. But what it IS is very cheeky indeed. How did he get away with putting that song on the album? Did he get any flack from EMI? “North American Scum – it’s the first single because I let the label (EMI) have a say in the singles. It’s their record too. Promoting a single is hard work – it’s what they do, not what I do. I didn’t think about the controversy. It’s funny to me. I think Canadians will get it. I played it to a friend in Canada, and he picked up that I said North America, not America. Over here Canadians are American and the United States are North American. So I think Canadians will find it funny.”
“Otherwise…. I don’t make songs about actual stuff. North American Scum is just a perception – not about anyone in particular. I don’t write about events, I write about a perspective. ‘Losing my edge’ for example: everybody asks me what that’s about. It’s about a time when I had started DJing. I’d been a failed old punk singer and when I started djing I was cool all of a sudden! It was small time stuff but I was psyched – I’d never been cool before. Then I went to a rock show and the first band had stopped, then the DJ played Liquid Liquid. And that was a track I was playing. I thought “Why is this guy playing MY record at a rock show?” I got scared, angry and embarrassed by my thoughts. It was a moment of genuine terror, embarrassment and disgust. So I wrote ‘Losing My Edge from that perspective.”
And what was the perspective behind North American Scum then? (I’ll get this out of him by hook or by crook journalism)! “’North American Scum’ is actually funny. I had a moment one day when I said, “we’re North American scum” – that phrase has contradictions in it. So I wrote an absurdist song. It’s funny to be American now, in relation to Europeans. Perception of us has oscillated wildly when we’ve played in Europe: we’re not really American because we’re from NY or because we’re not stupid. This song is about that stuff.”
Because the album’s all hush hush at the time we’re talking, we don’t really discuss the other tracks than the single. So you’ll have to try to find the silver lining – or the disco ball – for yourselves. And now the album is done and about to be out there, what’s next for LCD? “We go to England, Europe then back to NY, then the rest of the US. We hope to come back to Australia for the Big Day Out next year, that’s if I don’t get there before then. Big ups to Australian espressos, by the way. I was really surprised last time I was there, you guys make good coffee! I told that to a friend in France and they were horrified, but you guys made better coffee. Then I want to make more records. To be honest I’m frustrated right now. I don’t want to tour, I like playing but I’d rather be writing more music. I have respect for the idea that I’m supposed to play now the album’s coming out. It’s only respectful to try to do it. But I am 36 now and I want to write more music. There are people who love to tour – I don’t, it’s not what I want to do. I want to play with my dog, I’m training to fight, learning jujitsu – I used to be a kickboxer. I want to look back and say I did a bunch of stuff. Art and music and spending time with my wife.
LCD Soundsystem’s brand new album, ‘Sound Of Silver’, is out now through DFA/EMI.
replicant says...
Just picked up this album yesterday. Really enjoying it! A fantastic follow up to 'LCD Soundsystem'. Liking all the tracks, particularly 'Someone Great'.