John Linnell — one half of the founding Johns of They Might Be Giants — just released a new solo album consisting entirely of songs sung in Latin. As he explains:
I can hear some of you screaming, "why songs in Latin?" and I admit I'm scrambling for a cogent explanation. There isn't one.
Linnell goes on to provide some slightly better context: he'd been studying Latin on Duolingo throughout his COVID quarantine, and thought it might be neat to experiment in songwriting. He enlisted the help of a friend in translating his English lyrics and working out phonetic pronunciations, and recruited his own kids to help him record it at all at home.
Linnell also hopes to win a, uhh, Latin Grammy for his efforts. Ba-dum-tisch!
