Black Heart Inertia

Album: Monuments and Melodies (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song and "Midnight Swim" are the only two new tracks on Incubus' best-of collection Monuments and Melodies. The two songs were recorded in Los Angeles during guitarist Michael Einziger's winter break from Harvard University, where he explained to Billboard magazine that he'd "just taking courses for personal enjoyment."
  • Einziger told Billboard magazine that Monuments and Melodies started out as "a contractual obligation." He added that he and his bandmates "weren't really excited at first" about putting together a greatest hits package. But they eventually changed their minds. Einziger explained: "It was almost like we were trying to come up with an excuse to go on tour for the summer, and we started really thinking about the idea of putting out a greatest hits album and having that as the excuse to accompany the tour we were planning. And then as we started planning it, it became really obvious that greatest hits records are really important to the legacy of any band. I was introduced to most of the groups I grew up listening to - artists like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley and the Doors - through their greatest hits records. So we began realizing that it's in fact really an honor to be able to put together a greatest hits package, and it started becoming nostalgic, like watching a home movie. It's really cool to take a step back and look at this collection of music we've spent all these years writing and playing. It's humbling."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Charlie Benante of Anthrax

Charlie Benante of AnthraxSongwriter Interviews

The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."