Eno and Byrne first came together when Eno produced the series of Talking Heads records between ‘78 and ‘80 that included the albums More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music and _Remain in Light _. The last time that Byrne and Eno collaborated on a record, with 1981s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, they produced a complex and playful record that embraced early ‘80s post punk experimentation, fusing dance beats to samples of Middle Eastern folk or radio broadcasts of preachers and politicians. While far from the first album to use samples as a central focus, it’s a record that has been pillaged for ideas by the likes of DJ Shadow, Moby and the now elusive Avalanches.

While sounding nothing like the experimentation of Bush of Ghosts, this new Byrne/Eno album also draws on a wide array of influences with the press release suggesting that the record be filed as pop/folk/electronic/gospel – a category not often found on the racks of the local record store, or iTunes genre list (though the album would slide in nicely beside Paul Simon’s Graceland.)

However for two of popular music’s most tireless innovators ‘unconventional’ is their conventional approach. Recent years have seen Byrne – the label head, photographer, film director, author and musician – performing disco/operas inspired by Imelda Marcos, house with X-Press 2’s Lazy and singing the hook on hip hop records, while Eno – the ambient innovator, glam-rocker, producer – has rescued Coldplay from the near self parody of X&Y to guide them to their Viva La Vida album (seriously, give Chris Martin and co another chance and listen to the album). Reuniting their many talents after so many years may set high expectations, but the result is worth the wait.

The most immediately compelling attraction of the album is the strength of Byrne’s soaring tenor voice as he lures you into these richly detailed tracks. It’s no small detail that the Bush of Ghosts record is credited to Eno and Byrne, while this album reverses that credit. Voices on Bush of Ghosts drifted in and out of the mix offering a fleeting melody or preaching a disconnected hook. However Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is a far more traditionally structured record, letting Byrne’s lyrics and voice take a central position in the production.

With the 25 year reissue of Bush of Ghosts the pair reconnected and Eno gave Byrne a mix of instrumental tracks that Byrne ‘lived with’ for almost a year, letting the feel of the tracks inspire the vocals and lyrics he added to the tracks. The first completed track One Fine Day came to Byrne after reading What is the What?, Dave Eggars’ stunning tribute to the joys and suffering of the Sudanese Lost Boys survival. Eggars’ earlier novels obscured honest narratives with a style which veered towards overly self-conscious, a comment that could be applied to Byrne’s time with the Talking Heads when he was the ‘certain person, who can’t say what they mean/don’t mean what they say’ (according the lyrics of Tom Tom Club’s Wordy Rappinghood). Now, like Eggers, Byrne has developed a more openly heartfelt style that is more willing to play with, rather than against, conventional writing structures.

In Byrne’s words his approach for the lyrics of this album was to be ‘simple but not corny, basic but heartfelt’. He undeniably succeeded. Too often a singer citing a gospel influence descends into mawkish sentiment and wavering trills, but gospels appeal to Eno and Byrne is in its simple power to be both questioning and loyal; universal and intensely personal; earthy and, above all, spiritual.

Though neither Byrne nor Eno are interested in pretentious affectations and ultimately this is a pop record, even if it won’t find its way on to radio playlists. They are undoubtedly serious artists, yet there’s nothing even vaguely po-faced or academic about their music. Eno’s rich productions are intricately built with acoustic guitars, shy beats and delicate washes of sound and are woven to the golden thread of Byrne’s rich tenor, yet the production rarely calls attention to itself. The skittering piano intro of I Feel My Stuff, the murky swamp of Poor Boy and the organ that opens Wanted for Life are exceptions, but the majority of the album simply glides by with an unassuming grace.

On Strange Overtones Byrne may sing that ‘This groove is out of fashion/These beats are twenty years old’ but the reality is that this album exists well outside the rules and limitations of musical trends and fashions. That’s how truly great records and artists work.