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 " Co ...

. After taking a long hiatus from songwriting after his successful 2006 ''Thing a Week'' project (with the exceptions of "

Still Alive "Still Alive" is a 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 subject of the song, GLaDOS. ...

" 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. Common ...

(of

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

), 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 generall ...

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. Ofte ...

, commitment, abandonment, and

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

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 Top Heatseekers are "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 by new an ...

, #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, pr ...

, #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, pr ...

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

Track listing

Personnel

- Vocals, guitar, ukulele, other things *

Chris Anderson Chris Anderson may refer to: Sports * Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player * Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling * Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...

- Bass *

Marty Beller Marty 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. He has contributed writing and vocals for three of ...

- Drums *

Mauro Refosco Mauro Refosco is a Brazilian percussionist. He is best known for working with singer David Byrne and as the former touring and session percussionist for the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is a member of the experimental supergrou ...

- 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 Philade ...

- Keyboards * Jon Spurney - Keyboards *

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

- Vocals on "Now I Am an Arsonist" *

Sara Quin Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

- Vocals on "Still Alive" * John Roderick - Vocals on "Nemeses" *

Dorit Chrysler Dorit Chrysler, born as 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 ...

- Theremin on "Still Alive" * Stan Harrison - 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 a 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 publication fro ...

on July 28, 2011.

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Jonathan Coulton albums