The Music Court

Curated by BBC Radio 1’s Gemma Cairney and composer Llywelyn ap Myrddin, Body of Songs is a project that explores the human body through music. The Music Court will profile each track in the compilation. The final four tracks will be announced this summer, and an album will follow. The concept is described best on their website:

“A collection of 10 songs by some of the UK’s most talented artists, inspired by the body’s organs.

Hidden from view, suctioned together in dark flesh, the organs are the core of our physical functioning, and our emotional and feeling world.

Each artist explores an organ with the help of experts, to find out how it works and unlock its mysteries and myths. Along the way they ask profound questions about their own lives; about illness and disease, and age and suffering.”

More information can be found at bodyofsongs.co.uk. 

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After hearing “Follow Me Through,” you’re probably realizing that this Body of Songs thing isn’t at all what you expected. The organs that are chosen are very specific, and even stretch the definition of “organ” (coming up: blood?). For now, we’ll explore Ghostpoet and his left-field contribution to the project: “A Plateful of Liver.”

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After some extensive research, aka a quick but effective google search, I have noticed that there is not enough discussion on the internet about the song, “Bling (Confession of a King),” a deep cut from The Killers’s sophomore album, Sam’s Town. When the album came out, Entertainment Weekly began its review by describing “Bling,” but they rated the album a C overall; were they not listening? The song describes Brandon Flowers’s father, and his decision to turn sober and follow the Prophet Joseph Smith. I think it might be my favorite song by The Killers, which is a fairly bold statement. I’m impressed by the power they deliver with that driving rhythm, balanced beautifully by the poetry for lyrics. A few people on Reddit said that it was their most underrated song, and I think that that is an understatement. Alas, I could probably write an essay on the brilliance of that “Bling,” but that isn’t what I wanted to address today. Another “Bling” has caught my attention, from a group I recently cannot get enough of: Bells Atlas.

There is a pervasive ingenuity throughout Bells Atlas’s music. I wrote about their last single, “Future Bones,” and called it “fresh and original.” After hearing “Bling” and re-reading what I wrote last time, I don’t think I could have described Bells Atlas in a more generic and boring way. Their new single is not only innovative, it’s catchy as hell. I haven’t memorized the words yet, but I’ve been humming it for the past few days without realizing it was even stuck in my head. The lyrical labyrinth is marvelously executed by frontwoman Sandra Lawson-Ndu, who is a very major part of what makes this track soar. Her voice is gorgeous, especially coupled with well-placed reverb and her own voice as back up. Bells Atlas keep climbing, and it makes me more than excited to hear the new EP. Just a few more weeks now…

“Bling” is the second single off of Bells Atlas’s next EP, Hyperlust, due out May 31^st. You can pre-order it here. For more information on Bells Atlas, visit their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp.

P.S. The live version of the other “Bling” is truly fantastic.

Curated by BBC Radio 1’s Gemma Cairney and composer Llywelyn ap Myrddin, Body of Songs is a project that explores the human body through music. The Music Court will profile each track in the compilation. The final four tracks will be announced this summer, and an album will follow. The concept is described best on their website:

“A collection of 10 songs by some of the UK’s most talented artists, inspired by the body’s organs.

Hidden from view, suctioned together in dark flesh, the organs are the core of our physical functioning, and our emotional and feeling world.

Each artist explores an organ with the help of experts, to find out how it works and unlock its mysteries and myths. Along the way they ask profound questions about their own lives; about illness and disease, and age and suffering.”

More information can be found at bodyofsongs.co.uk. 

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There is an elegance about this Body of Songs project. The title seems obvious, but that takes for granted that there it is a unifying double entendre. The human body is something with which everyone can relate, bar none. Then there is also the inherent grace in the innovation of the concept: creating music that is truly inspired by, and about, the very vessel that carries our consciousness. First up, we have the track from Mara Carlyle and Max de Wardener, a stupendous work that honors the kidney.

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