Benjamin Gibbard is the lead vocalist and guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie and alongwith Canvasback Music / Atlantic Records he unveils the compilation tribute album Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono. Ahead of the scheduled album release date of 18 February, David Byrne and Yo Lo Tengo have released a cover of Yoko Ono’s ‘Who Has Seen The Wind’ with accompanying lyric video. Its a gentle, haunting rendition which is beautifully illustrated in the video.
Imagined and curated by Benjamin Gibbard Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono is comprised of 14 all-new versions of Ono’s tracks performed by a diverse range of rising artists and legendary stars including Deerhof, The Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, Japanese Breakfast, Thao and Amber Coffman.
Yoko Ono has supported the non-profit organisation WhyHunger for years and a portion of the albums profits will be donated to the organisation. They work to transform our food system by building social justice, striking at the root causes of hunger and poverty.
Gibbard explains the inspiration behind the compilation album:
Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono “was born out of both love and frustration. The ‘love’ part is pretty obvious; It is the seemingly bottomless well of inspiration and enjoyment Yoko Ono’s music has provided me and I must assume everyone else present here on this compilation.
The ‘frustration’ part, on the other hand, goes back decades.“As an advocate, the tallest hurdle to clear has always been the public’s ignorance as to the breadth of Yoko’s work. To put it into context; This is an artist whose output has run the gamut from avant-garde to bubblegum pop, often across a single album. For years, it has been my position that her songwriting has been criminally overlooked. She has consistently created melodies as memorable as those of best pop writers. As a lyricist, she has always written with poignance, sophistication and deep introspection.“
Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono will be accompanied by an exclusive podcast, hosted by Gibbard and veteran music journalist Jenny Eliscu. It will feature in-depth discussions of Ono’s music and legacy with many of the artists featured on the new album. The official trailer of Songs of Yoko Ono is streaming now here
