We expected something truly special: after all wasn’t this the same duo who brought us 1981’s visionaryMy Life In The Bush Of Ghosts – for some the sampling mother lode – and a pair of buccaneers who between them created some of the landmark records of the ‘70s and ‘80s? Well, in this instance, expectation seems to have outstripped reality, and while it’s fine and nourishing fare, with Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, these musical eggheads extraordinaire have whisked up a relatively plain omelette.
Of course, that’s not to say that ETHWHT is a bad album, quite the contrary in fact, and any album that features the music of Brian Eno and the vocals and lyrics of David Byrne is going to have its share of illuminating moments. A lovely spluttering piano motif is threaded through ‘I Feel My Stuff’, its mournful, walking-home-in-the-rain vocal underscored by shuffling rhythms and a serrated guitar solo. It’s a wonderful rattle-bag of styles, a little trip-hop, a smidgeon of prog and throughout a pristine pop sensibility. It is this reverence for the tune that is the unifying feature of an album that can skip effortlessly from the gospel-tinged ‘One Fine Day’ to the beats-driven ‘Poor Boy’.
Elsewhere, the contemplative lyric of ‘Life Is Long’ is complimented by a tune as sweet and meandering as a sun-dimpled stream whilst ‘The Lighthouse’, all enchanting croon and silken textures, provides a fittingly comforting finale. No boundaries were harmed in its making but ETHWHT is an album of unquestionably great songs. For today, that’s more than enough.
Key Track: ‘I Feel My Stuff’