Now Gotye is in a new phase of his
career, musing about the way he got here, and taking time to reflect on the way
he creates music. He said he had recently read Simon Reynolds’ book Retromania,
which takes the view that the current music industry isn’t offering anything
new or original, but rather constantly rehashing recent pop history, albeit in
new forms.
Gotye said that reading Reynolds’
diatribe had made him think about the way he wrote songs, cobbling together
bits and pieces of never-heard music that he discovers in vintage record
stores. “Somebody That I Used To Know,” in fact, samples a guitar part from
Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá’s song “Seville,” from Bonfa’s 1967 album Luiz
Bonfa Plays Great Songs. Gotye was intrigued with the album title and found
a little musical bit that he twisted and turned into something brand new. And
that, he has come to realize, is maybe his unique musical gift.
“I think maybe the stuff that I do
that’s the most successful or the most interesting is the stuff that somehow
finds the balance between those competing tensions [sampling the past versus
creating something brand new] and something unique does come out of it. And
maybe the stuff that I do that’s more of a stylistic homage or pastiche,
recently I’ve decided I shouldn’t allow myself the license to do that as much
because it’s not as interesting and I should challenge myself to try to distill
something more unique out of those directions.”
Well, if the book helps him come up with another song as fresh and original as "Somebody I Used To Know", and with as much staying power (okay, there was a moment back in June or thenabouts when having heard it approximately 1076 times on the radio I started feeling a tad tired of it, but I'm on my second wind of "SIUTK" love now) , I shall consider it a Job Well Done.
Did they ever even release a second single off Making Mirrors? I suppose they are waiting for the first one to fade off the airwaves. Might still have a bit of a wait ahead.
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