In this ‘Listed’ feature, we get to know the most radicalist up-and-coming stars through a themed list of their top musical picks.

This time Irish-born New York dwelling sister duo Song Sung, put together a playlist of tracks that inspired their recently released debut album This Ascension Is Ours.

Having reeled us in with their beckoning recent singles, 'Come To The Water', 'Telling Tales' and 'Take Some Time', Song Sung's heady, ethereal and often wonderfully disorientating sound is due in part to their collaboration with musician, composer and fellow Irishman David Holmes (best known for his contributions to the ominous Killing Eve soundtrack as one third of Unloved). 

The band explain:

"We have decided to focus on five tracks from Brian Eno and David Byrne’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today for this playlist. This album was the second collaboration between Eno and Byrne and it echoes the very technique that helped us construct our own record - instrumental compositions that required what Byrne described as the “division of labor”, a two-part collaboration. Like Eno and Byrne, we did not initially plan to make a full length album, but as our collaboration with David Holmes progressed, the trajectory started to form.

In the early stages of our album, David sent us some instrumental files via email which we transported into our recording software - these early examples became improvised vocal tracks. We began vocally drafting the bones of the song, sometimes using scat singing as the first layer in the process and using that foundation as a way to start building the track.

Thematically, this album focuses on hope in the face of despair, while also tapping into gospel music and spirituality. Everything that Happens Will Happen Today has been described as “electronic gospel”. The album combines something electronic with something very human and personal, which is very much like our own album. We began singing in the choir, so we understand the significance and the power of communal song and how it can spark memory, create melody and evoke a mood. The first single released off the Everything that Happens Will Happen Today is our first choice."

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1. Strange Overtones - David Byrne and Brian Eno

It's a nod to every writer's inner dialogue. It’s a clever track in its simplicity and yet, it's also complex. “This groove is out of fashion / these beats are twenty years old.” This is identifiable. “Your song still needs a chorus / I know you’ll figure it out. The rising of the versus / A change of key will let you out.” This is just the best. Tim Harries played on this album, as well as playing bass on our album.



2. Everything That Happens - David Byrne and Brian Eno

This is a great track. It opens so delicately and that very sentiment swims slowly through the entire track. The harmonies are beautiful and subtle. Something amazing happens towards the end of this track. It collides into this euphoric harmonious expansive chorus. It’s spectacular!



3. Home - David Byrne and Brian Eno

We’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out the instrumentation on this track - that dragging sound with an effect. What is it? Byrne has a great way of distracting and moving you straight through the song.



4. I Feel My Stuff - David Byrne and Brian Eno

This is the most abstract track on the album. It shifts halfway through to an animated version of Byrne, which sounds like his alter ego. It ends with a repetitive mantra. I know I feel my stuff / I changed my luck / I come back to be stronger... which ends the track perfectly.



5. The Lighthouse - David Byrne and Brian Eno

This track has a wandering quality like some of our tracks. There is a beautiful atmospheric feeling throughout with a repetitive quality that pulls you in.



6. Emerald and Stone - Brian Eno

The primitive nature of this track is captivating. There is a simplicity that sticks to the emotional fibers of the ears. We definitely gravitate towards simple tracks, but this is anything but simplistic.



7. Emily - John Cale

We met John Cale about ten years ago at a pizzeria in the Gramercy area of New York and ended up attending his blackAcetate album release some weeks later. Our friend Tony was his tour manager and it was around that time that we started to zone in on John's solo records, especially Fear. "Emily" is an incredible ballad. It's one of those tracks that moves around with us.



8. New You - My Bloody Valentine

We wrote part of our album in Berlin in 2016 and this album was spinning during most of our time there. There is a sort of magic happening in 'New You' and 'Wonder 2', which is electrifying. We've always loved how the vocal melodies work within the band and it's evident in 'New You'. We saw them perform this album in New York.

9. 35 Summers - Plaid

Plaid’s Scintilli and Hawkmoth were both inspiring albums for us, during the making of 'This Ascension is Ours.' The movement within their music inspired some of the arrangements and shaped some of our songs. Again, there is a feeling in it.



10. Scram - Mogwai

This album was released when we were working on our own album. Upon first listen, we were completely hooked. Mogwai created this soundtrack for a documentary film about nuclear history, which was directed by Mark Cousins and titled, Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise. It was later reworked by Mogwai into a studio album. The synthesized pulses within this soundtrack inspired part of our record. There's so much emotion translated in the music.



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This Ascension Is Ours is out now via Night Time Stories.

-Holly Mullineaux