Newish releases from Weezer and Owen Pallett both use string sections and full orchestras to great effect. William Dart takes a listen.
OK Human; Island - cover images Photo: Crush Records; Domino Records
In an interview in 2009, Weezer's lead songwriter Rivers Cuomo said that the band wanted to branch out and explore new approaches to their writing. In amongst talk of longer and non-traditional song formats, we were informed that before too long there might well be baroque counterpoint cropping up alongside Southern rap.
Now, Weezer’s latest album provides fulfillment of that promise, using a 38 piece orchestra to back it up. All of this in a CD with a title, OK Human, that they admit is a cheeky nod to Radiohead’s technophobic future-trip, OK Computer.
Owen Pallett’s 2020 album, Island has only just received its physical release. His last studio CD came out in 2014, but the Canadian hasn’t been idle in the interim. Rather, he’s been very busy with what he wryly describes as his “orchestral services”. He’s a sought-after arranger for others, including our own Kimbra, Frank Ocean and even, at the pop end of the spectrum, Robbie Williams, for a project that he’s laughingly dismissed as having “too many cooks in the broth.”
The six years between 2014 and 2020 also saw him slowly creating Island. Ambitious would be a rank understatement here. As well as hearing Pallett and a handful of musical associates, we also have the strings of the London Contemporary Orchestra with a contingent of wind and brass players from the St Kitts Chamber Orchestra.
Music Details
'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)
'Say It Ain't So' (Cuomo) – Weezer
Weezer (Blue Album)
(DGC)
'Put me back together' (Cuomo et al) – Weezer
Raditude
(DGC)
'All My Favorite Songs' (Cuomo et al) – Weezer
OK Human
(Crush)
'Grapes Of Wrath' (Cuomo) – Weezer
OK Human
(Crush)
'Playing My Piano' (Cuomo) – Weezer
OK Human
(Crush)
'Lewis Takes Off His Shirt' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Heartland
(Domino)
'Transformer' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'Perseverance of the Saints' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'Polar Vortex' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'A Bloody Morning' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'Fire - Mare' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'Lewis Gets Fucked into Space' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
'In Darkness' (Pallett) – Owen Pallett
Island
(Domino)
