Creating an AI programme and filling it with “the entire terms and conditions of LinkedIn, the ancient poem Beowulf, 400,000 4Chan forum posts and the teachings of Confucius” and using it to inform an album’s lyrics, song titles and artwork creation.
It might sound slightly out there, but this is exactly what band Everything, Everything has done with their new album ‘Raw Data Feel’ and I love it. If you’re curious about the how and why then here goes…
In a note to fans, the band said:
We are proud and happy to announce the sixth Everything Everything album “Raw Data Feel”. The album is out on May 20th, and the first produced by our Alex, alongside our trusty long-term cohort Tom AD Fuller.
For a number of songs on Raw Data Feel, Jon utilised Artificial Intelligence to co-write lyrics, and to help create the artwork and photography for the record. The lyrical contributions can be found scattered across the record, the AI being used as sort of a collaborator.
Sometimes, ideas were fed to it by Jon, sometimes vice versa.
The only data the A.I. was given were LinkedIn’s entire Terms and Conditions, Beowulf, 400,000 4Chan comments, and The Collected Sayings of Confucius.
The idea behind using this was part of a general theme about dealing with trauma, and using various techniques (in this case technology) – to cope. Relying on an artificial mind to take over when things are too difficult.
The data sets were chosen to forcibly juxtapose cold modernity and procedural tech lingo, with a sense of the fantastical and with lost philosophical wisdom. 4Chan comments were added to the mix to reflect the dark underbelly of the technological present, as well as presenting some extremely unusual pairings of tone and content.
The music is vivid, bright and spontaneous. It’s our most natural and impulsive work.
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If you’re a bit of a music buff, Everything, Everything’s album feels like a modern take on the cut up techniques, for others, this is simply a cool nod to the future, a crafty combination of harmonies driven by humans and programming.
Andy.