Danger Mouse, producer behind a myriad of artists including Beck and The Black Keys, as well as being one half of Gnarls Barkley, has yet another new project. Entitled Rome, the record is a collaboration with Italian composer Daniele Luppi, channeling the both musicians’ love for Italian movie soundtracks of the 1960s, such as the classic Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.
While Rome is inspired by such, it’s not entirely comprised of strictly instrumental compositions. The duo enlisted none other than Jack White and Norah Jones to contribute vocals to the album. Danger Mouse spoke with the Guardian on these choices, explaining Jones was chosen due to her ability to “be soft, not polarizing,” while White’s participation came as a surprise:
“I played some of the music for Jack White when I was on tour shortly after doing the first session, just to show him what I was doing, because at the time everyone thought I was just a hip-hop guy, or whatever. He liked it, but at the time I wasn’t even thinking of using him – you know, it’s Jack White. But in the end, I thought, he’s really into it – why not? He tried it in different voices – a high voice, a low voice, and I thought, why don’t we leave them all in? There’s a bunch of his vocals on Rose With The Broken Neck, and it doesn’t always sound like him – sometimes you’re like, is that Jack or not?”
The project, which was recorded in the city of its title, has been in motion since 2006. There is no release date set for the album, but the pair behind it claims that they’re happy with the result, with Luppi stating: “It would be bad after four years if we were not pleased.”
