Leon Jean-Marie is a London based composer and sound designer.
Naive Melodies is a new compilation that reinterprets the music of Talking Heads through the lens of Black musical innovation, curated by Drew McFadden. The London-based composer and sound designer Leon Jean-Marie covers the title track, “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).” To celebrate the compilation’s release, the two longtime friends and collaborators got on Zoom to catch up about the creation of it.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
Drew McFadden: I think this is the first time we’ve done something like an interview for a project that we’ve worked on together since we’ve known each other, which is — do you know how long we’ve known each other now?
Leon Jean-Marie: I mean, it has to be 20 years or more.
Drew: I think it’s just over. I think it’s 22 years.
Leon: You know me better than my wife!
Drew: You know me better than my wife!
Leon: [Laughs.] That’s crazy this is the first time.
Drew: We’ve done projects together, but I feel like this is an actual thing together-together. I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but you were the first person before I really started that I earmarked for this, even before I spoke to you.
Leon: Oh, wow.
Drew: Everyone I was reaching out to, people were like, “What songs are available?” And I’m like, “You can pick anything but ‘This Must Be The Place.’” Because even before I spoke to you, I felt like you’d be great. And then you did it.
Leon: A testament to your gut instincts. You knew better than I knew myself. I was just like, “Really? Can I?” I mean, I know the song, love the song. Obviously it made such a resurgence in COVID — that song was everywhere, all the hipsters were listening to that. I flew to yours in LA [to record it] — was it basically three days?
Drew: I think it came together really quickly in my head. We went to the studio and I think we had three days. There was no pre-production. I think the only concept we had was, “Let’s make this into more like a ballad, really slow it down.” I remember looking into what key it was in and the tempo. We were listening to the live version. That’s as much as we did before we hit the studio. And [I thought] it should really be based on you having a really intimate, close vocal, and maybe piano. And I think you just threw those strings in there on the day that we got there.
Leon: Yeah, we programmed that and basically scored it like a movie. And you know what the sweet spot is? You orchestrated it and directed me in a way, and I think emotionally I was kind of in a perfect state. I’m an open book — I was having marital problems. It’s a little bit better now but, you know, having quite a bad argument prior to that. I think it was the week before, and I’m talking to my mum and all this kind of stuff. But that was a perfect state to be in, I think. I carried that.
Drew: That was pretty heavy. I forgot all about that.
Leon: I was like, “It might be over, Drew!”
Drew: And I’m like, “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got to record this.”
Leon: “The art, the art…” [Laughs.] No, but, with all the stuff we have done, I never really was… You’d write songs and you would try and be as truthful and playful, but to be in such an honest [state], it just worked out.
Drew: It’s funny because all of the songs you’ve written by yourself for yourself, you feel like this, not being your song, felt it was a song you’d written, or it felt like it resonated more with you because of the situation you were in personally.
Leon: Yeah, yeah. It was a perfect storm. And, you know, you’re in the room and you’re like the perfect muse.
Drew: [Laughs.] The thing is — this sounds like such a cliche and kind of corny — but it’s never felt like working.
Leon: No.
Drew: We get together and when we create anything, it’s the best time. Not being cheesy, but it is. And I feel like that’s sometimes how the best things happen. There’s no pressure, we take our time, it is what it is. It’s just fun.
Leon: Oh, man. Now I know how Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, those guys feel when they make movies. [Laughs.]
Drew: You’re probably the only person who I feel like something good always happens. I feel like because we’ve known each other so long as well, it makes it easy. But I think you vocaled everything there, right?
Leon: Yeah, vocaled there and even comped, I think, on the spot.
Drew: In no time. And I think before you went back to the UK, we had another three days in my kitchen.
Leon: That’s right. We did post stuff literally on your kitchen counter. You made a little mini studio.
Drew: That’s over a year ago. We finished it around Halloween 2024. And then I was tinkering, you were tinkering, we were just flying ideas back and forth. It was, I think, the last track we finished for the whole album. First thing on my mind, and the last thing that we really finished.
When I approached you for this, obviously you knew Talking Heads, obviously you knew the song. But growing up, were they a thing in your house? Were your parents into that? Because you’re younger than me by 10 years.
Leon: My parents were into Caribbean music. My mum was heavily into reggae. My brother was the eclectic one, so a lot of my influences came from stealing his collection. I’m trying to think… The first song I ever heard was “Once In A Lifetime,” maybe on MTV or something. I know I was young. But the magic that David Byrne had — I just remember being mesmerized because he’s doing all those weird moves in the video. But the beat, the track, was amazing. I loved hip hop as well from a young age, and that’s like a hip hop beat. It’s dope. And the bassline. But he somehow transcended that fine line of, Oh, my god, this is comical. You’re just transfixed.
Drew: It’s funny because I have really vivid memories of that being on Top of the Pops — which was massive in our house, almost like a religious experience every Thursday. I remember me and my sister, same thing, we couldn’t really work it out. I don’t know if it was my mum or dad, but they just didn’t understand and thought it was so stupid. But my sister loved it, and I totally became obsessed with them. It sounded like nothing else. It still sounds like nothing else. “Once In A Lifetime” in particular is probably one of my all time favorite songs.
Leon: I have to admit — so, I wasn’t a super fan or whatever, but I loved them — and then another milestone for me was when Mariah Carey came along with “Fantasy.”
Drew: Oh, Tom Tom Club.
Leon: I remember then discovering the sample, and then making the connection going, “Oh, my god, it’s the same…”
Drew: The rhythm section. Again, another wholly unique sound.
Leon: And they all came out of New York, right?
Drew: I’m pretty sure David Byrne is Scottish, but he was brought up in New York. To me, he’s New York. I think that sound could have only come from New York, to be honest. Especially with the birth of hip hop and everything else.
I think you yourself always been to me kind of genreless. Like, still rooted in in Black music, but it’s really hard to pinpoint you, the same as Talking Heads. The reason why I wanted to do this tribute record is that I feel like there’s not ever really been a light shone on their musical influences, especially with Black culture. There’s been a lot of covers over the years, especially with “This Must Be the Place.” But I feel like not many people seem to acknowledge the roots of the music.
Leon: And that’s what you’ve done with the whole album.
Drew: Totally, it’s still rooted in the roots of Black music, Black culture, and kind of taking from Talking Heads how they took from, you know, Afro, Latin, jazz, spiritual, electronic…
Have you done any covers before?
Leon: No, I’ve never recorded any covers, only performed.
Drew: Do you feel like, working so intently on this, has it changed the way you would approach writing for yourself?
Leon: It has, actually. I’ve always been somewhat comfortable in my skin — you know, every artist is insecure and has their own issues — but I feel like with this, all of a sudden, there’s just even more comfortability in my skin. I would actually say this particular track is a milestone, and with your help it’s pushed me more than we’ve ever done before. It’s funny how life plays out, because I think in between that whole time [since we’ve known each other] — working on films, understanding how to score, composition, and all of that — that really helped. Because obviously in that world, to convey or induce emotions massively without words is the task, right? So that helped in terms of putting it together with you.
Drew: It feels cinematic, right? And I feel like if you made this when we met 20 years ago, it wouldn’t.
Leon: I wouldn’t even know how to. The timing was right. But to answer your question, I think from this point, I’m definitely more comfortable within making art and having to write songs… I definitely feel fortunate that we pulled it out. We did it.
Drew: I’m not just saying it — again, it sounds so corny and cliche — but out of everything that I’ve done, with and without you, it’s one of the things I’m most proud of.
Leon: Yeah, me too.
Drew: Let’s do more.
Leon: We will do more!
