Talking Heads
Speaking in Tongues

THE REVIEW

Released in '83, ideally placed between an undisputed masterpiece like "Remain in Light" ('80) and a great commercial success like "Little Creatures" ('85), "Speaking in Tongues" is an album rather overlooked in the Talking Heads' discography, remembered more for the single "Burnin’ Down The House" than for its content. It is not, in fact, the best work of the New York quartet, but that does not mean it is a trivial album, forgotten easily.

One could observe, in summary, how SIT represents the ideal bridge between the avant-garde funk rock of "Remain in Light" and the pop recordings of the second part of the Talking Heads' career, more profitable economically, although less stimulating on a purely musical level: as a transition between two eras, SIT thus features all the strengths and weaknesses of the group, serving as an excellent vantage point to better understand the evolution of Byrne and company’s career.

The album opens excellently with "Burnin’ Down The House", yet another representation of the group’s urban irony, accompanied by a brilliant rhythm section and an insistent accompaniment that follows, syncopated, the swaying chorus: the piece is catchy, but it suggests how the group is following the path of cliché, of self-ironic repetition in music and lyrics. The subsequent "Makin’ Flippy Floppy" continues on the path of funk rock sustained by sharp rhythms, over which Byrne's disorienting vocals stand out. The third track of the album, "Girlfriend Is Better", is excellent, characterized by the intervention of Bernie Worrell from the Parliament on keyboards, where rhythm and melody blend perfectly: noteworthy is the final synthesizer solo, which echoes the bass lines and reiterates them in a truly engaging sonic whirlwind. "Slippery People", on the other hand, is a gospel revisitation in the Talking Heads style: the musical accompaniment is sparse, yet the choral inlay, led by Nona Hendrix and alternating with the solo voice, is rich. "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" recycles the sounds and pace of "Makin’ Flippy Floppy", essentially reprising the funk pop patterns of "Once In A Lifetime" (from "Remain in Light") with rearrangements and enriched synthesizers, albeit with less brilliant results than the historic single. "Swamp" is distinguished by the insistent and emphatic chorus, yet adds nothing to the album's content and at times seems repetitive. The following "Moon Rocks" and "Pull Up The Roots" instead seem like fillers, composed and played without genuine conviction: more examples of electronically processed funk rock, marked by rhythmic uniformity that does not benefit the overall result. The album concludes with "This Must Be The Place" (Naïve Melody), a clearly pop track with an easy synthesizer accompaniment, always supported by Byrne's vocals, pleasant to listen to.

As already mentioned, SIT is the epitome of the group's sound: admirable in the funk diversions and arrangements that prioritize more novel sound effects, as well as the nods to black music and the polyrhythms of ethnic music, sometimes weak in songwriting, perhaps because it was not supported by the collaboration of a deus ex machina like Bryan Eno, the Talking Heads' mentor in the late '70s. The score is average, although compared to the technopop of the era the album might deserve something more: but after twenty-three years, it no longer makes sense to relativize.