''Artificial Heart'' is the eighth studio album by rock musician

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Cod ...

, released digitally on September 2, 2011 and physically on November 8, 2011. After taking a long hiatus from songwriting after his successful 2006 ''Thing a Week'' project (with the exceptions of "

Still Alive "Still Alive" is the song featured in the closing credits of the 2007 video game '' Portal''. It was composed and arranged by Jonathan Coulton and was performed by Ellen McLain, who voiced the ''Portal'' antagonist and in-game singer of the song ...

" and ten songs recorded between 2007 and 2009), Coulton started production on ''Artificial Heart'' after encouragement from

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York–based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Earl ...

(of

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

), also the album's producer. Unlike much of Coulton's previous work, ''Artificial Heart's'' original lyricism is largely non-comedic and contains few references to

geek culture The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a genera ...

overall, instead opting for heavy themes of

betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...

, commitment, abandonment, and surrender.

History

The album began production after Coulton opened a few shows for They Might Be Giants in 2010. Sometime during these shows, Flansburgh suggested to Coulton that he put together a band and record an album professionally, to be produced by Flansburgh. In 2010, Coulton announced that he was about to start recording his first album in four years. ''Artificial Heart'' is a collaboration between Coulton and John Flansburgh, who encouraged Coulton to step outside the independent realm of his previous work and try many new things for the album, including recording with a full band in a professional studio. Thus, ''Artificial Heart'' is the first Coulton album to be produced by someone other than Coulton himself, the first to be recorded in a studio (owned by Flansburgh's collaborator

Patrick Dillett Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

), and the first to be written for (and recorded by) a full band. ''Artificial Heart'' is also the first Coulton album to feature guest lead vocals and a duet. ''Artificial Heart'' has become Coulton's first album to chart, placing #1 on Billboard's

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

, #26 on Billboard's

Rock Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, #16 on Billboard's

Alternative Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, and #125 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Personnel

- Vocals, guitar, ukulele, other things * Chris Anderson - Bass *

Marty Beller Martin A. Beller (born July 10, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the current drummer for They Might Be Giants since Dan Hickey's departure in 2004. He has recorded two solo albums and has contributed writing and vocals for thre ...

- Drums *

Mauro Refosco Mauro Refosco (born 16 October 1966), is a Brazilian percussionist. He is best known for his work with singer David Byrne and the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was a member of the experimental supergroup Atoms for Peace – featur ...

- Percussion *

Joe McGinty Joe McGinty is an American composer, keyboardist and arranger who was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. McGinty is most widely known for his five years as the keyboardist for the Psychedelic Furs (after a brief stint with Robert Hazard in Phila ...

- Keyboards * Jon Spurney - Keyboards *

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

- Vocals on "Now I Am an Arsonist" * Sara Quin - Vocals on "Still Alive" * John Roderick - Vocals on "Nemeses" *

Dorit Chrysler Dorit Chrysler, born Dorit Kreisler, is a renowned Austrian born composer, thereminist and sound artist. She has written music for films, TV and video art featured in museum collections such as the Guggenheim and MoMA. Dorit co-founded the New Yor ...

- Theremin on "Still Alive" *

Stan Harrison Stan Harrison (born December 8, 1953) is an American saxophonist who is also accomplished in playing other woodwind instruments, namely the French horn, flute and clarinet. He has also written music for television. Harrison released his first solo ...

- Saxophone Arrangement and Performance on "Sticking It to Myself"

Availability

The album was released on September 2, 2011. The initial release is available as part of a "premium superfan pack" with extra merchandise, including a vinyl pressing and T-shirts, designed by Sam Potts. The first track to be released from the album, Nemeses, was released online via

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

on July 28, 2011.

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Jonathan Coulton albums