What's That Song From the LG Optimus T Commercial?

Posted on Dec 10th 2010 5:30PM by Phil Brondyke
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'Bridges and Balloons,' Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom's vocals will definitely get a reaction from you. For this reason, LG uses her vocal talent in its 'Play' commercial for its new Optimus T smartphone in order to attract considerable attention from viewers.

Newsom's ingenuous vocal sound highlights neighborhood children's playtime and allows viewers to appreciate the simplicity that the Optimus T could bring to lives. Closed with the tagline "Is it a smartphone, or something better?" LG overtly advocates that their product can bring you back to the essence of life with its new device. The commercial does not promote any technical innovation outside of voice commands, so appealing to the consumer's community sensibilities is the task asked of this ad.

Eleven seconds into the LG spot, a harp is dragged into the backyard to emphasize Newsom's instrument of choice, in addition to her vocals. According to an interview in Papermag, the harp is what awakened her musical inclinations as a child, as she begged her parents to let her play it at the age of 4. She began in earnest at 6 years old and it laid the foundation for her lifetime musical ambitions.

After dropping out of Mills College, in Oakland, Calif., Newsom continued with the harp and began experimenting with her vocal sound.

"My voice was absolutely unhinged at this point," she tells Papermag. "I'd sing and jump an interval and go for a note, and I'd be scrambling for it before I would latch onto it. I was just so unfamiliar with the way my voice worked."

Keeping in mind Newsom's desire to create melodic and high-art music that hadn't been heard before, her sound was soon refined. Although her singing have been compared to a toddler and to Lisa Simpson (among other things), Newsom gets a reaction from the presentation of her work. This means that, by definition, Newsom is succeeding in her goal of creating genuine art.

'Bridges and Balloons' can be found on Newsom's first album, 'The Milk-Eyed Mender.'

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