Act Naturally: 5 Songs from Actor-Musicians
This week's songs are from Maya Hawke, Djo, William Shatner, Coconut Records, and Palace Songs
The actor Michael Shannon and a journeyman musician Jason Narducy (Superchunk, Bob Mould, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc.), along with a crew of other all-star musicians have been putting on one-off album tribute shows in Chicago for years. Recently they’ve picked up some steam by taking 40th anniversary tributes to R.E.M. albums out on the road, to the point where they’ve gotten all four members of R.E.M. on the same stage a few times. From what I’ve seen, they sound pretty good. For Shannon, it must be nice to get out and have a good time celebrating good music, playing with his friends. He can exercise the music muscles without being another one of the many actors to release music—or one of those musicians who occasionally acts. Which is it?
It is in fact pretty silly to judge someone for doing more than one thing, to try and box someone in and let them only be famous for doing one thing. Except Jared Leto. Actors have been singing and singers have been acting since movies added sound. Al Jolson, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Paul Robeson, Doris Day. Hell, even Robert Mitchum and Joe Pesci have released music. So it shouldn’t seem like a big deal for Scarlett Johansson to put out a Tom Waits covers album (or Tom Waits to appear in a Scarlett Johansson movie); Jamie Foxx to sing, rap, play piano, do stand-up, and act; Jack Black to be Jack Black, or Barbara Streisand to be Barbara Streisand. Sometimes it does come off as a gimmick, like a money-grab, or even a little desperate. Other times, you get talented people doing something they clearly love, which yields intriguing results.
Here are 5 songs from actor-musicians.
“I was born with my foot in the door/
and my mind in the gutter/
and my guts on the floor”
- Maya Hawke
Maya Hawke - “By Myself”
Maya Hawke is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, and acts in Stranger Things, among others. There’s an interesting quality to her voice—delicate and just a touch of rasp—that really floats on the surface of “By Myself,” off her first album. Hawke has worked with writer-producers Jesse Harris and Christian Lee Hutson, key collaborators of Norah Jones and Phoebe Bridgers, respectively. Nothing against any of the aforementioned, but this is not ground-breaking or particularly distinct music. If I had to pick a word to describe it, the first word that comes to mind is “fine.”
That said, “By Myself” is a nice earworm of a melody. Especially when in the mood for something on the softer side. Aside from Hawke’s voice and the melody, give one of your ears over to the bass. The melodic bounce of a stand-up bass switches into playing bowed after the first minute to warm up the rest of the song. It’s a nice subtle touch.
“I don't want your money, I don't care for fame/
I don't wanna live a life where that's my big exchange/
I want simple pleasures, friends who have my back”
-Djo
Djo - “Potion”
Seems like most of the Stranger Things cast has a musical side project. Joe Keery was a member of Chicago band Post Animal before he skipped town for acting commitments. One of those commitments is playing Stephen Malkmus in the upcoming Pavement movie.
Listening to Djo, I hear The Cars, Billy Joel, Jimmy Eat World, Phoenix, and The Strokes. The quality doesn’t necessarily live up to caliber of those artists, but if you threw some of this in on a playlist with them, it wouldn’t drag anything down. Sort of like the first season of Stranger Things, it’s hits the point of reference dead-on, and is entertaining, but ultimately, it’s a little superficial. To a certain extent for Djo, that superficiality is intentional (see: “Basic Being Basic”). He shows good taste in his reference points, definitely has an ear for melody, and he’s having enough fun for it to come across in his music. “Potion” has a nice, repetitive guitar lick and Keery finds a few rhythmic pockets to drop the melody, in a falsetto. The chorus is bright and fun, perfect for a sunny day. This is what pop music should sound like, when it's not being lazy.
“I've saved the world in the movies/
So naturally there’s folks who think I must know what to know/
But just because you’ve seen me on TV/
Doesn’t mean I’m any more enlightened than you”
- William Shatner
William Shatner - “Common People” (Pulp Cover)
William Shatner performed a spoken word version of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” at a science fiction awards show in 1978. It’s strangely compelling—and weird as it is, it also makes so much sense. He had released an album 10 years earlier with similar interpretations of songs like “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” It wasn’t until 2004 that he released the follow up Has Been, in collaboration with Ben Folds. Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker even joins in on the update of his original. Henry Rollins, Aimee Mann, and Lemon Jelly also contribute to the album. I particularly like the track with Lemon Jelly, but that’s Lemon Jelly being Lemon Jelly more than anything Shatner’s doing.
As for “Common People,” I actually prefer this to the original. The class tourism critique hits harder here, as Shatner’s voice is dripping with disdain. There’s also the hilarious line delivery throughout (“Oh yeah? Well, I don’t see anyone else smiling in here”). The song retains the escalating tempo, echoing the original’s mounting frustration. But it cuts a little harder, with an absurd edge that veers into the cartoonishly over-the-top (a choir). You could make a case that the final duet between Cocker and Shatner reflects the fractured perspectives within the working class itself—but who am I to say? I’m a college boy.
Coconut Records - “I Am Young”
After a lengthy search, Wes Anderson cast Jason Schwartzman as the precocious playwright Max Fischer in Rushmore. As the son of actress Talia Shire and a member of the Coppola family, one might expect he was always going to be a working actor. However, his first passion was music. He was the drummer and a principal songwriter in Phantom Planet. He wrote “California,” which became their hit when it was used as the theme song for The O.C.. He kept acting and soon departed Phantom Planet, but has stuck with music, releasing albums as Coconut Records.
What I like about Coconut Records is that the music has a playful quality to it. Songs like “Summer Day” and “Courtyard” are similar to Paul McCartney’s Ram or McCartney I, II, and III, in that it sounds like tossed-off ideas by a guy goofing off in a home studio. There doesn’t seem to be much ambition to it beyond that, which again, is a good thing. Songs rarely hit the three-minute mark, but leave behind catchy melodies and distinct musical moments. “I Am Young” has one of those distinct musical moments with a gear-shift from a melancholy lament into a big anthemic chorus that shows Schwartzman has a good ear for layering in overdubs.
“Those who want to/
They call my name and/
Recognize my face/
I don’t know why/
I was born but/
I have made a place”
- Will Oldham
Palace Songs - “Horses”
I’ve seen Will Oldham (Palace Brothers, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy pop up as a character actor in The Bikeriders and Wendy & Lucy, and other Kelly Reichardt films. I assumed he was just friendly with the filmmakers and was brought in for bit parts given his distinctive look. What I learned recently is that he was an actor first. He was among a highly creative community in Louisville, and was considering starting a band with a few friends until he booked his first acting job in John Sayles’ Matewan. Those friends would go on to form Slint in his absence.
Rather than build a catalog with a consistent name, Oldham adopts new monikers for each project as a nod of respect to the engineers, producers, other collaborators, and even the studio and circumstances that contribute to the recordings. He has the same musical DNA as Jason Molina—fragile vocals, cryptic lyrics, and sparse guitar-driven arrangements. Here he is performing as Palace Songs, which included members of Slint as his backing band. It is stark and apocalyptic in sound and imagery, with David Pajo providing a scorched-earth guitar solo in the third-act.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy listening.
Full playlists of songs featured in 5 Songs: