In a recent interview with James Blake, Brian Eno expressed his dislike for what he calls “the asshole chord”. During their conversation, Eno explained that there is a way of resolving things in songs that always disappoints him. He further added that when he hears it, he thinks “oh, god.”
Blake then revealed that Eno was referring to his most popular song, “Retrograde”, released in 2013. The track features long, droning synth chords during its halfway point. “So it starts with a G major which is the nice chord,” Blake explains. “We like that,” Eno adds. “Then the bottom G in the right hand I moved up to an A flat, and that made it diminished over a G bass,” he says. “That was when your head cocked like a dog listening to a high pitch, and you said: ‘That’s the asshole chord!’.”
Blake admitted that he had tried to remake the track without that chord but gave up because “the song doesn’t work without it.” However, he jokingly added that it had impacted him in that moment and that he had “years of pain, therapist’s office!”, looking back at Eno’s distaste for the infamous chord in “Retrograde”.
The interview was posted as a follow-up to the release of James Blake’s “Robots Into Heaven”. Eno is currently promoting his first-ever solo tour, and Blake has returned to producing club music.
You can watch the full interview below
Read the full article from Mixmag here: Read More