David Byrne and St. Vincent combine for new song 'Who' and a whole album

David Byrne & St. Vincent's "Love This Giant"

Credit: 4AD/Todo Mundo

It was "in-the-works" for two-and-a-half years, but now it's confirmed today that St. Vincent and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne will release an entire collaborative album, "Love This Giant." The 4AD/Todo Mundo effort will drop on Sept. 11, and has been preceded by the first song to arrive, "Who."

This jagged and melodic number bumps around with polyrhythms and unusual harmonies -- a la Dirty Projectors and tUnE-yArDs -- with a lot of belting from Byrne and angelic refrains from St. Vincent (aka vocalist and guitarist Annie Clark). The brass does a lot of carrying here, which I love: the horns give it some emotional weight to all the whimsy and 1,000-yard staring.

There will apparently be a lot of horns on the album overall, with help from the guys in Antibalas and The Dap-Kings helping out. Engineer and songwriter John Congleton of moody rock outfit The Paper Chase also lends a hand on programmed drums. Ten of the album's 12 tracks were co-written by Byrne and Clark, and each writing one individually.

And with a snap of your fingers, a new album has likely entered into the top 10 of NPR's year-end list.

You can download the song for free via the widget below. Keep your eyes open for more information at newly launched website LoveThisGiant.com.

David Byrne & St. Vincent have confirmed tour dates in support of "Love This Giant" starting in September, schedule below, with setlists including songs from the set and "a bunch of songs that we suspect people will know, with a group that includes eight brass players, a keyboardist and a drummer." Yeow!

Their history started thusly:

"Byrne and Clark met in 2009 at the ‘Dark Was the Night’ benefit at Radio City Music Hall and were approached shortly after by the Housing Works Bookstore to collaborate on a night of music. They began composing remotely, trading song ideas and structures online while Clark toured and it quickly became apparent that they had more than just one night of music in them. Byrne performed with Clark at her ‘American Songbook’ show at Lincoln Center in 2010, and Clark contributed vocals to Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’ album, released the same year."

St. Vincent last released "Strange Mercy" last year, and her song "Cruel" made it into my top 20 songs of 2011. Bryne last collaborated with Fatboy Slim on 2010's "Here Lies Love" and dropped a concert album "Live at Carnegie Hall" in March this year.

What do you think?