David Byrne – “Rei Momo”

Rei Momo is a critical album to my childhood. Hearing David Byrne’s odd vocals over South American and Latin music is a pairing that immediately makes me think of driving around Seminole with my dad and my brother. Rei Momo‘s spice accompanied the Florida weather very well.

Rei Momo came into the Kaufholz family by way of bargain bin. My dad saw it on sale for something like $4. It peaked his interest simply because of David Byrne and his work with Talking Heads. Little did he know that it would become a family favorite.

Talking Heads announced their split in 1991, only two years after Rei Momo was released. I’m guessing that, like many other bands, Talking Heads felt that the band’s break up was imminent. Byrne, being the prolific musician that he has always been, stretched his reach to world music as a breeding ground for his first solo project.

Byrne embraced world music completely on the Rei Momo recordings. All of the musicians on the album were native players and specialists in their given styles, whether it was mambo, samba, and merengue, among others. This collaboration makes Rei Momo a wonderful melting pot of different musical styles, all under the direction of Byrne – the quirky and brilliant staple of the New Age scene.

“Independence Day,” the first track on the album starts with a playful rhythm section which is met with a bold first line: “Now and then I get horny/At night you do/At night you do.” Towards the end of the song, there is a fantastic violin solo that breaks up the structure of the song. This all sounds like random ideas thrown into one song, and it may be. But it works. “Independence Day” is one of my favorite Rei Momo tracks.

“Dirty Old Town” focuses more on the horn players. They start off by playing the song’s motif over the percussion section. Just before the chorus, the horn section livens up and leads you into Byrne singing:

In this world of possibilities, it’s a land of possibilities

We wanna live in a dirty old town

Building it up, tearing us down

With our head in the clouds and our feet on the ground

We wanna live – dirty old town

Dirty old town

Accepting that the dirty old (and, I’m assuming, American) town isn’t perfect but is still the place Byrne would prefer call home, is a nice idea and makes “Dirty Old Town” an endearing tune.

The catchiest song on Rei Momo is “Marching Through the Wilderness.” It sounds like the most likely candidate to be in a movie. It also sounds like the most “Western” track on the record. The string section, the chords that make up the chorus, and the guitar tracks make it sound like a 50’s-style arrangement over South American percussion. There is so much happening on the track that the four and a half minutes go by faster than you would think.

“I Know Sometimes a Man is Wrong” is an interesting way to end Rei Momo. For the first minute of the track, all you hear is frogs, crickets, and whatever other forest noises making the noises of nighttime. Under the forest noise, Byrne hums the melody of the track. It’s a bit eerie but really beautiful. After that goes for about a minute, a warm organ plays sustained chords under Byrne singing:

I know sometimes I can be wrong

I know sometimes I do believe

I know sometimes I can be wrong

I’ll be wrong until you’re next to me

I’ll be wrong until you’re next to me

It’s a rare moments when Byrne’s voice is strictly melodic and without the Byrne-ish touches of oddness. It’s a short and picturesque way to end Rei Momo.

Rei Momo has the soul of Latin and South American countries, along with that of David Byrne. It’s an interesting departure from his work with Talking Heads, and though it wasn’t a critical success, it’s an album that has something new to offer on every listen.