“John Cage cover aims for Christmas No 1 with the sound of silence.
In a small, stuffy Soho recording studio, the musicians were poised to begin. Headphones on, guitars slung, drumsticks raised, fingers on keys. From the mixing room, came the muffled voice of the producer. “And after three – one, two three and …” Silence. For the next four minutes and 33 seconds the rag-tag ensemble of 40 or so musicians did not play a note. Some couldn’t help but move, fooling noiselessly around or swaying to an inaudible beat, others just lowered their eyes.
Veteran lefty Billy Bragg, Suggs, Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard, dance act Orbital, and rock-ravers Enter Shikari were among the bands and artists brought together to recreate the sound of silence.
It sounds like an unlikely contender for Christmas number one, but the track – a cover of avant-garde composer John Cage’s experimental 4′33″, itself the recording of an orchestra not playing – may yet be the most serious competition the forthcoming X Factor winner will have to face.
The song, which has been produced for charity, hopes to emulate the success of last year’s Rage Against the Machine Christmas number one campaign, which saw the guitar-heavy, profanity-littered Killing in the Name pip X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s weepy ballad to the number one spot.
Sitting at a grand piano, ready to not play before recording started, pop star Mr Hudson, aka Ben McIldowie, explained the track’s appeal. “There is already enough noise out there,” he said. “This is giving people a little time to think.”
Read more in The Guardian HERE