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James Murphy talks LCD Soundsystem's Oscar chances for "New Body Rhumba," what's next & more

LCD Soundsystem at This Ain't No Picnic 2022
LCD Soundsystem at This Ain’t No Picnic 2022 (photo by Wei Shi)

The 2023 Oscar nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, but the Academy has already announced the shortlists of possible nominees for a new categories, including Best Original Song. Among them is LCD Soundsystem‘s “New Body Rhumba” which was written for White Noise, Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s acclaimed 1985 postmodernist novel of the same name. (It’s streaming on Netflix now.) The song is used at the end of the movie for a memorable dance sequence over the credits and you can watch that — spoiler alert, obviously — below.

LCD bandleader James Murphy recently talked with Indiewire about “New Body Rhumba” and White Noise, revealing that the film’s choreographer had used another LCD song as a guide, and the band had to then build the new song around its tempo. He didn’t say which one but added, “It’s not that hard to figure out” (our guess: “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”). “I was working on some music at this studio in Copenhagen and sending some ideas, but then the choreographer set it to a different song of mine and it was like, ‘Oh, we shot the dance scene at a different tempo.’ I was like, ‘Aw, fuck!,'” Murphy told Indiewire. ”Normally, if someone gives you a guide track, you’re like, “Alright, this is the tempo,” and you figure out how you’d approach it. But I knew how I’d approach it, because there was my song. So I had to get away from my own song. It was very strange.”

As for the possibility of being nominated for an Oscar, Murphy says he cares as he really liked the film. “It’s oscillating above reality until the end, when it fully escapes from reality, with the song in the last bit. I want to make sure people feel like they need to watch it to understand. In years to come, people will understand how dense it is. For that, I would love to get an award. Also, everyone in the band would find it funny.” He adds, “I’m working on my EGOT. I got a Michelin star next door so it would be a MEGOT,” referencing his Williamsburg restaurant Four Horseman, “But in general I don’t care about stuff like that.”

Murphy also talked about LCD’s recent 20-show run at Brooklyn Steel — “That stuff’s grueling. But it’s fantastic. We’re just lucky that we all still care about each other” — and the possibility of new music. “I don’t have a new album now,” Murphy told Indiewire. “No album panic. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just not in the process of it.” But when asked if that could change at some point, he said “Oh yeah. I’d love to make a record.”

Also on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Song: “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (which just won the Golden Globe), Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Weeknd’s “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water, Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Son Lux, Mitski, and David Byrne’s “This is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, and more. Check out all the Best Original Song shortlist contenders below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65KZtfkNt_w

2023 OSCARS BEST ORIGINAL SONG SHORTLIST
Giveon – ‘Time’ (Amsterdam)
The Weeknd – ‘Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)’ (Avatar: The Way of Water)
Rihanna – ‘Lift Me Up’ (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Son Lux, Mitski, and David Byrne – ‘This Is A Life’ (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Gregory Mann – ‘Ciao Papa’ (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
Rita Wilson – ‘Til You’re Home’ (A Man Called Otto)
Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava – ‘Naatu Naatu’ (RRR)
Selena Gomez – ‘My Mind & Me’ (Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me)
Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell – ‘Good Afternoon’ (Spirited)
Sofia Carlson and Diane Warren – ‘Applause’ (Tell It Like a Woman)
Jazmine Sullivan – ‘Stand Up’ (Till)
Lady Gaga – ‘Hold My Hand’ (Top Gun: Maverick)
Norah Jones and J. Ralph – ‘Dust & Ash’ (The Voice of Dust and Ash)
Taylor Swift – ‘Carolina’ (Where the Crawdads Sing)
LCD Soundsystem – ‘New Body Rhumba‘ from (White Noise)