Remain in Light
- Scores: Noise 2, Unease 2, Complexity 3 (each 1 to 5)
- Genre: Rock, Art funk, New wave
- Mood: hypnotic, nervy, ecstatic
- Sound: layered polyrhythms, looped one-chord grooves, interlocking vocals, Brian Eno production
Remain in Light is where Talking Heads rebuilt their sound around African polyrhythms and loops. Recorded in 1980 at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and in New York with Brian Eno, it was written by jamming instrumentals, picking out the best sections and learning to play them repetitively, which David Byrne likened to being human samplers. The songs avoid chord changes, with each rhythm track sitting on a single chord, and Byrne's stream-of-consciousness lyrics were largely written after the band returned to the US. Adrian Belew's guitar, played through effects and a guitar synthesiser, adds extra texture. Radiohead cited it as an influence on Kid A.
Track list
- Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (5:49)
- Crosseyed and Painless (4:48)
- The Great Curve (6:28)
- Once in a Lifetime (4:19)
- Houses in Motion (4:33)
- Seen and Not Seen (3:25)
- Listening Wind (4:43)
- The Overload (6:25)