James Murphy has reunited LCD Soundsystem and made a comeback album, and he doesn’t care if that’s a cliché.
WHEN LCD SOUND SYSTEM called it quits in 2011 after three studio albums and a joyful, teary, and allegedly final concert at Madison Square Garden, it seemed as if the band’s mastermind, James Murphy, had achieved that rarest of music-world maneuvers—the graceful bow-out. But just underneath the meticulous dance grooves and hyper-self-aware lyrics of LCD’s music was always a deep vein of punkish restlessness. Thus, perfect endings be damned, the band’s forthcoming reunion album, American Dream. “I shed any ambivalence about coming back a while ago,” says Murphy. “Whether or not other people have, I can’t say.”
The first three LCD albums formed such a perfect conceptual triangle. How does American Dream fit in with what came before?
It’s a completely new phase for the band. Everything from 2002 to 2011 is a thing, and now this is the beginning of another period. So there’s a big fucking moat of breaking the band up and coming back that helps clarify different eras. Also, it used to be that the only reason I could allow myself to make LCD Sound system records was that I’d be DJ-ing and frustrated that there wasn’t more music that fit the need of dancing but wasn’t “dance” music—so I made that music. But as I get older I’m more at home writing proper songs. There’s something more classic about that, which could be worse or better. But for the moment, I like this record more than I like other records I’ve made.
Even in just an emotional perks kind of way, how much did you miss being in LCD Sound system?
Denne historien er fra August 21–September 3, 2017-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra August 21–September 3, 2017-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Enchanting and Exhausting
Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.
Nicole Kidman Lets Loose
She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.
How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality
Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.
The Art of Surrender
Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.
The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back
ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.
Showing Its Age
Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.
Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth
Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.
REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK
THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.
Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.
Gwen Whiting
Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.
