David Byrne has never lost his love for discovery. At 73, the veteran singer, songwriter, author, Broadway composer, and filmmaker retains a curiosity about the world around him that is rare at any age. Combine that with a nimble mind and a restless spirit and the result is a musician who is continuously exploring new creative avenues. That means working with the producer Kid Harpoon (Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, Shawn Mendes) and the 15-member chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra on his latest album, Who Is the Sky?
It’s his 11th solo album (if we’re counting the collaborations with Brian Eno and St. Vincent) and the follow-up to 2018’s American Utopia, a title that even then could easily have been derisive or cynical. That’s not how Byrne operates, though, and the songs on that album were upbeat and optimistic: When he sang the hook on “Everyday Is a Miracle,” he delivered the line with such conviction that thinking otherwise seemed unreasonable. He carries that joyous tone into Who Is the Sky?, on a dozen new songs that sound ebullient right from the start. The musical arrangements have a lot to do with that: drummer Tom Skinner of The Smile and percussionist Mauro Refosco lock down immaculate grooves (with additional rhythmic contributions from Kid Harpoon) that serve as a launching pad for the rest of the musicians. On opener “Everybody Laughs,” that manifests as a delirious riot of strings swirling through bursts of brass, the bright chatter of a marimba and layers of effusive vocals led by Byrne himself, with a guest spot from St. Vincent.
Byrne’s vocals are a high point here in general. He doesn’t sing with any kind of classical purity—never has, really—but his unmistakable voice remains limber and expressive. Best of all, he still goes for it vocally, in a way that makes clear that he takes great pleasure in singing. When Byrne lifts his voice on “Don’t Be Like That” over a polyrhythmic variation on a Bo Diddley beat, it’s practically an invitation to sing along over accents from strings that lead to an instrumental break carried by horns and Byrne’s scat vocals. Elsewhere, on “What Is the Reason for It?,” Byrne sashays his way through a booming rhythm and sinuous horns as he builds from a sultry croon to a full-throated meditation on the vagaries of love before Hayley Williams of Paramore takes the microphone. She matches his fervor in a vocal pas de deux as seductive as any tango, but with a speedier tempo.
Because Byrne projects the way he does, the lyrics are discernible and it’s always clear what he’s singing about. Love is a recurring theme on Who Is the Sky? where Byrne also lets loose his idiosyncratic sense of humor. On “The Avant Garde,” he muses about the merits of making art for its own sake. “It’s whatever fits / It’s the avant garde / And it doesn’t mean shit / It’s the avant garde,” he sings, pursued by horns and lurching layers of electric guitar and drums. Elsewhere, on “I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party,” Byrne encounters the spiritual being indulging himself at the dessert table. As serene strings swell up over a rolling rhythm, the Buddha shrugs off Byrne’s suggestions that he pace himself, noting that a) he’s retired from “that enlightenment stuff” and b) neither one of them exists anyway.
It’s one of several story-based songs on the album, all of which are a little off-kilter: “My Apartment Is My Friend” is, in fact, a love letter to his apartment, while a new skincare regimen on “Moisturizing Thing” gives him the same youthful glow as a 3-year-old. Though such songs can seem silly on the surface, there’s usually some greater profundity at work. If nothing else, Byrne’s willingness to embrace the absurd and to exhibit unbridled joy is his way of pushing back against a mounting sense of fear and gloom. Bringing together so many collaborators here gives Who Is the Sky? a feeling of community, too, which extends to listeners through songs that seem intended for dancing. Yet the feeling goes even deeper. As Byrne recently told the Madrid newspaper El País, “I think I make this music as an act of resistance.”
Eric R. Danton has been contributing to Paste since 2013. His work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and Pitchfork, among other publications. He writes Freak Scene, a newsletter about music in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
