Listening to the Unconscious

What happens in our unconscious minds when we listen to, produce or perform popular music? The Unconscious – a much misunderstood concept from philosophy and psychology – works through human subjects as we produce music and can be traced through the music we engage with. Through a new collaboration between music theorist and philosopher, Smith and Overy present the long history of the unconscious and its related concepts, working systematically through philosophers such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, psychoanalysts such as Freud and Lacan, to theorists such as Deleuze and Kristeva. The theories offered are vital to follow the psychological complexity of popular music, demonstrated through close readings of individual songs, albums, artists, genres, and popular music practices. Among countless artists, Listening to the Unconscious draws from Prince to Sufjan Stevens, from Robyn to Xiu Xiu, from Joanna Newsom to Arcade Fire, from PJ Harvey to LCD Sound System, each of whom offer exciting inroads into the fascinating worlds of our unconscious musical minds. And in return, theories of the unconscious can perhaps takes us deeper into the heart of popular music.

“"Kenneth Smith and Stephen Overy present a unique approach to the analysis of popular music that links conventional music theoretic and Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts providing the analyst a window into the unconscious drives shaping popular music." -- Ciro Scotto, Associate Professor of Music Theory, Ohio University, USA " Listening to the Unconscious provides a compelling approach to music listening. It is an invaluable addition to the field of popular music studies, demonstrating deftly the relevance of psychoanalysis in music scholarship. Comprising an extensive collection of musical examples, Smith and Overy have developed an impressive array of theories that lay the foundations for important forms of critical thinking." -- Stan Hawkins, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo and University of Agder, Norway”

Exploring how conscious and unconscious states of mind are channeled through musical expression, Kenneth Smith and Stephen Overy collaborate here to offer post-Freudian and post-Lacanian readings of popular songs. With clear reference to psychoanalytic concepts, their analytic applications reveal remarkable ways in which states of being emerge through expressive musical strategies. Listening to the Unconscious will reward readers with persuasive and stimulating reflections on how music channels the very core of human experience. Lori Burns, Professor of Music, University of Ottawa, Canada
Three particular values strike me in reading Smith and Overy's Listening to the Unconscious. First, they provide an entry-level, cogent introduction to key psychoanalytic concepts and the ways they enable navigation of the unconscious, but with a musical purpose in mind. Second, they give much all-too-rare attention to musical detail in the light of these concepts, leading to persuasive elucidations of a wide range of songs at rather greater depth than often found. And, third, they present sufficient richness of demonstration to enable interested readers to apply these ideas to music of their own choosing, and thus to understand music more convincingly from this useful perspective. What more could one want? Allan Moore, Professor Emeritus, University of Surrey, UK
Listening to the Unconscious provides a compelling approach to music listening. It is an invaluable addition to the field of popular music studies, demonstrating deftly the relevance of psychoanalysis in music scholarship. Comprising an extensive collection of musical examples, Smith and Overy have developed an impressive array of theories that lay the foundations for important forms of critical thinking. Stan Hawkins, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo and University of Agder, Norway
Kenneth Smith and Stephen Overy present a unique approach to the analysis of popular music that links conventional music theoretic and Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts providing the analyst a window into the unconscious drives shaping popular music. Ciro Scotto, Associate Professor of Music Theory, Ohio University, USA

Kenneth Smith is Professor of music at the University of Liverpool, UK, and President of the Society for Music Analysis. He is the author of Skryabin, Philosophy and the Music of Desire (2017) and Desire in Chromatic Harmony (2020) and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis (2018).

Stephen Overy is Lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University, UK. He specialises in philosophy of the unconscious and desire, situating the work of a line of thinkers from Kant to Deleuze in relation to its implications for materialism.

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