Common Prayer – Love–>A Building On Fire // Song Of The Day #275

Common Prayer‘s sprawling debut, There Is A Mountain, was easily one of the best musical surprises of 2010, arriving like a clear spring day amongst the frequent gloom and despair of most pop music released that year. And now news arrives that the band are currently hard at work recording the follow-up, featuring the assistance of some top-secret compatriots who surely will help frontman Jason Sebastian Russo realize his eclectic artistic vision.

To keep us fans occupied while we wait for the new record, the group has released an impassioned cover of Talking Heads’ classic ‘Love–>A Building On Fire,’ which features the lovely, layered backing vocals of Alexandra Marvar and Karen Codd blending smoothly with Russo’s plaintive croon and his driving electric guitar riff, which really propels the song forward initially. The band truly makes the song their own following a hypnotic breakdown at the midway point, which is quickly followed by a jaunty mix of keys, muted percusion and what might possibly be a xylophone all colouring the song as it sprints emphatically to its glorious finish.

‘Love–>A Building On Fire’ is featured on the stellar O+ Compilation, which boasts a nice cross section of some of the talented artists who performed at the O+ Festival in Kingston, NY, this past October. And, if the sonic inventiveness present on this Talking Heads cover is any indication, Common Prayer truly have something special in store for us on their forthcoming record. Hopefully, they won’t keep us waiting too long.

Common Prayer – Love Is A Building On Fire by O+ Festival