Last year St Vincent, aka Annie Clark, released her sixth studio album to huge critical acclaim. ‘Daddy’s Home’ saw the Texas singer take home her third Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, an award she has won before for 2014’s ‘St Vincent’. She’s also won a Grammy for Best Rock Song with ‘Masseduction’, the title track from her 2019 album.
So, who better to create a new take on one of the most iconic disco tracks of the seventies; almost everyone of a certain age and many younger love Lipps Inc’s brilliant ‘Funky Town’ and it would require real alchemy to add anything to that wonderfully evocative original. But, with the help of 2022 Grammy Award Winner for Producer of the Year Jack Antonoff, her huge talent and a healthy helping of vocoder, St Vincent seems to have managed to create a track which keeps all the nostalgia of the original but creates something hugely contemporary too.
Today sees the release of the track which will feature on the soundtrack for the keenly anticipated Illumination’s ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’, a soundtrack that will also feature original music from Diana Ross ft. Tame Impala and covers from Thundercat, Phoebe Bridgers, H.E.R., Bleachers, Weyes Blood, Caroline Polachek, Brockampton and many more. With a list of artists like that, the soundtrack is almost as keenly anticipated, if not more, as the movie but I’m sure the two will go hand in hand to create something very special for all the family to look forward to. The soundtrack will be released on July 1st to coincide with the film’s global theatrical release.
St Vincent is no stranger to collaborative releases as she has previously sung with Dua Lipa at the 2019 Grammy Awards, taken the role of lead singer with Nirvana in 2014 when they were inducted to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released an album with the iconic David Byrne in 2012. So, I’m sure Annie will enjoy being featured on an album that will celebrate a range of dazzling funk, disco and soul classics from a star studded line up who will bring brand new versions of some of the biggest hits of the seventies to a new audience in a contemporary way. The ingenious new versions will reflect the music from the era in the movie that sees Oscar nominee Steve Carell once again bring his super villain Gru to glorious life to tell the origin story of how he meets his iconic Minions, forges cinema’s most despicable crew and faced off against the most unstoppable criminal force ever assembled.
From a musical point of view, the chance to bring these classics to a new audience by having them covered by some of today’s hottest talents promises to be a must have Summer soundtrack. As we look forward to our first Summer away from a Global Pandemic, it feels comforting to hark back to those carefree disco days of the seventies and this track from St Vincent is the perfect way to get into the mood.
The soundtrack’s executive producer and the producer of St Vincent’s brilliant take on ‘Funky Town’ is a globally celebrated singer, songwriter and record producer as well as being the lead vocalist of The Bleachers. As a songwriter and producer, Antonoff was in 2021 credited by the BBC for having “redefined pop music”. He has collaborated with Diana Ross, Taylor Swift, Lorde, Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Kevin Abstract and many more before this brilliant collaboration with St Vincent and this song and the soundtrack that will follow is sure to have you turning up the music, digging out some glorious seventies colours and getting into the Gru-ve!
Minions: The Rise of Gru – Tracklisting:
- Turn Up The Sunshine – Diana Ross ft. Tame Impala
- Shining Star – Brittany Howard ft. Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire 1975)
- Funkytown – St. Vincent (Lipps Inc in 1979)
- Hollywood Swinging – BROCKHAMPTON (Kool & The Gang 1974)
- Desafinado – Kali Uchis (Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto 1959)
- Bang Bang – Caroline Polachek (Nancy Sinatra 1966)
- Fly Like an Eagle – Thundercat (Steve Miller Band 1976)
- Goodbye To Love – Phoebe Bridgers (The Carpenters 1972)
- Instant Karma! – Bleachers (John Lennon 1970)
- You’re No Good – Weyes Blood (Linda Ronstadt 1975)
- Vehicle – Gary Clark Jr. (The Ides of March 1970)
- Dance to the Music – H.E.R. (Sly and The Family Stone 1967)
- Black Magic Woman – Tierra Whack (Santana 1970)
- Cool – Verdine White
- Born To Be Alive – Jackson Wang (Patrick Hernandez 1979)
- Cecilia – The Minions (Simon & Garfunkel 1970)
- Bang Bang – G.E.M. (Nancy Sinatra 1966)
- Kung Fu Suite – RZA
- Minions: The Rise of Gru Score Suite – Heitor Pereira
