Portland Americana, roots, blues and soul trio Love By Numb3rs comprises Anna Lombard, Dan Connor and Jon Roods.
For the holidays, they decided to release their interpretation of Simon and Garfunkel’s “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night” from the duo’s 1966 album “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme,” which is also home to “Scarborough Fair/Canticle,” “Homeward Bound” and “The 59th Street Bridge song (Feelin’ Groovy).”
“Silent Night,” a Christmas carol, was written by Joseph Mohr and Franz X. Gruber in 1816.
Lombard said that they chose to cover the track because none of them had ever heard it before and were profoundly moved by the juxtaposition of the quiet, peaceful song with the inimitable close harmonies of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel cast over a radio news broadcast. “The simplicity and beauty of their version versus the chaos and negativity of what was happening every day in the world back then really was so poignant,” said Lombard.
For the track’s video, Love By Numb3rs gathered photos for the past year’s news and used a Lester Holt broadcast of the nightly news from a a few weeks back. It was Roods’ idea to turn Holt’s voice down to achieve a dark, robotic effect. Initially the band was going to try and find only positive news to broadcast but decided against it. “There was something so powerful about using current events from this past year,” explained Lombard.
But, she said, the spirit of the song is meant to be more positive. “While the visuals in the video are kind of dark, our message is one of hope and peace.” They also hope the song serves as a reminder to find beauty and love within the darkness.
Here’s “7’O’Clock News/Silent Night:”
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