The album title itself was derived from a “voice to text” David Byrne received, which was garbled from “Who is this guy?”
Imagine a world where My Apartment Is My Friend, A Door Called No talks (“Don’t open me, sir/ There is a reason I’m closed/ And no one can enter/ As everyone knows…”), “little crawdads” sing in nirvana and a Moisturizing Thing works way too well (“And when we go out they ask for ID/ It’s not always easy/ When you look like you’re three!” – welcome to Who Is The Sky?
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Members of Ghost Train Orchestra – a New York-based chamber ensemble – arranged this 12-song set. Byrne remains “ahead of the curve” and unpigeonholeable, delighting in the absurd.
Who Is The Sky? is blue-sky thinking manifested. Byrne’s latest collection of sonic experiments is instrumentally diverse, phantasmagorical and crammed with visual lingo that prompts movie reels to play out in the mind’s eye (we see Dr. Seuss on steroids).
Everybody Laughs (ft. his long-time collaborator St. Vincent) – Byrne’s first single in seven years – would make the perfect soundtrack for a conga line of euphoric Muppets. During the loping When We Are Singing, Byrne’s vocals leap and dive octaves. He even ee-aws a tune toward the song’s close.
My Apartment Is My Friend features playful instrumentation, güiro included; imagine Pee-wee Herman skipping in a field of plush multi-coloured gerberas – a wacky, childlike vibe.
The mariachi-inspired What Is The Reason For It? is elevated by triumphant brass fanfare. Don’t Be Like That offers some great advice on personal conduct, including, “Don’t say you do when you mean you don’t/ Don’t say you will when you know you won’t.”
Instrumentally, The Avant Garde creeps in like a pantomime villain. “I saw a woman in a leotard/ Now, I’m not sure how I feel about the avant garde…” – just one of the LOL-worthy lyrical moments in Byrne’s latest single (see also: “It doesn’t mean shit, it’s the avant garde”).
I’m An Outsider is more bonkers than Willy Wonka and like 12 songs in one: “I’m outside your mind and I’m tryna get in/ I’m standing out here, by your red velvet rope/ The bouncers all say, ‘Dude, you haven’t a hope.’”
Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s 2014 essay collection (Men Explain Things To Me), She Explains Things To Me flips mansplaining on its head. “Mansplaining is usually unasked for,” the Talking Heads frontman clarified in the presser, “in this case I am the one asking.”
The Truth closes out the record with xylophone, kettle drums and lofty strings, serving as a reminder to choose fun over fear.
We can totally imagine Byrne and his cordless band executing complex, synchronised choreo and wheeling around the stage in formation like a marching band to this album. Bring on his upcoming Australian tour!
LABEL: MATADOR
RELEASE: 5 SEP
