16 September 18 - 24, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Long Road to Nowhere David Byrne’s Who Is The Sky? adds to his decades-long alt-pop catalog. BY SIMON PRUITT D avid Byrne’s new album, Who Is The Sky?, is his first since 2018’s American Utopia, and it marks a collaboration with New York City-based ensem- ble, Ghost Train Orchestra. It arrived on Fri- day, Sept. 5, with a cover featuring Byrne in a very Byrne-esque bodysuit that’s as colorful as it is pointy, which only makes sense if you’ve seen it. It reminded us of the Firelei Báez painting Adjusting the Moon (The right to non-imperative clarities), which, whether by coincidence or deeply subtle intention, is part of a series titled Utopian Imagination. Who Is The Sky? lands 12 songs at 37 min- utes, the latest in a career of album-length col- laborations, including 2012’s Love This Giant with St. Vincent, 2010’s Here Lies Love with Fatboy Slim, and two with Brian Eno, 1980’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and 2008’s Every- thing That Happens Will Happen Today. Even at 73 years old, Byrne remains ex- perimental on Who Is The Sky?, with the Brian Carpenter-led Ghost Train Orchestra bringing a soothing, swelling core to Byrne’s recognizably unrecognizable offbeat melo- dies. It’s that certain no-frills, throw-it-at- the-wall-and-see-what-sticks energy that differentiates Byrne’s solo material from the Talking Heads. Of course, the two catalogs will always be deeply connected, and Byrne still plays songs from his old band live, but it’s as if the same chef is cooking with en- tirely different ingredients, with a new sous chef each time. If we can call the Talking Heads undeni- able, the perfect storm of originality and easy- to-follow pop hooks, then Byrne’s solo output is like a slow-growing seed, indistinguishable for a period after planting, before sprouting, blossoming and sticking to your eardrums for life. Consider the ‘08 Eno collaboration, “Life Is Long,” which can come across like a plod- ding pub singalong on first listen, until you’re swaying to the chorus as if you’re literally arm- in-arm with a dozen like-minded strangers. Or “Empire” from 2004’s Grown Backwards, which festers into an increasing cinematic melancholy with each additional listen. Similarly, upon the first playthrough of Who Is The Sky?, we’re not rushing to hit the replay button on every track, but believe us when we say that our tickets to his two-night stand at the Music Hall at Fair Park are al- ready secured. So much of Byrne’s charm is the sort of buoyancy that he performs with. It’s so pure and so joyful, that it allows him to pull off certain melodies that other, more self-seri- ous artists wouldn’t be able to. The album’s opener, “Everybody Laughs,” is Byrne at his most uninhibited, a nearly four-minute dance-y kumbaya, complete with piping strings backed by a playful vibraphone. The backing vocals in the song remind us of the equally endearing and cheesy breakdown at the end of Kanye West’s “Champion,” in the same unapologetically optimistic vein. It’s the kind of song that you can just tell will come to life in a much more satisfying way, and we’re especially confident in that when it comes to Byrne, who by any metric, is one of the greatest live performers of all time. Speaking of, based on a recent perfor- mance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and rehearsal videos, it appears that this upcoming tour will be presented simi- larly to his masterpiece American Utopia al- bum and tour, with a free-roaming cast of musicians, singers and dancers who ran around the stage like Byrne’s personal march- ing band and choreo-team. The experience was captured via a concert film on Broadway by Spike Lee. We’re not here to say crazy things like the American Utopia film being better than JonathanDemme’s Stop Making Sense, but maybe we’re crazy enough to say that it evokes such a wildly different sensa- tion that it’s as good in its own key. Whatever happens between Byrne fin- ishing a record in the studio and the lights casting upon him on-stage is pure magic. Using American Utopia as an example, the album’s closer and live show’s opener, “Here,” is so much better in live form that it’s hardly worth listening to the recorded version. Byrne’s voice is stronger, louder and in a more fitting key to the haunting ballad, and we’re expecting (and excited for) a simi- lar discrepancy in November. On “When We Are Singing,” Byrne chan- nels a late-period McCartney sound in both melody and instrumentation, which is a tre- mendous compliment. Later, on “I’m an Outsider,” Byrne has his best songwriting on the record, combining with Ghost Train’s strings for a mellow ‘70s psychedelia sound. On “My Apartment Is My Friend,” Byrne’s production is almost gloating, as if he knows that only he could make this sort of acoustic- clubbing song work. The clear standout of the album is “What Is The Reason For It?” which features Para- more’s Hayley Williams for a duet over Spanish-inspired drums and brass. The verses are set to the melody, or at least very similar to, crooning standard “Sway,” or “Quien Sera,” originally composed by Luis Demetrio and Pablo Beltran Ruiz and made popular over the decades by Dean Martin and Michael Bublé. Not everything here works, but the stuff that does is comfortably in the ranks of the best solo work Byrne has ever produced. Who Is The Sky? is further confirmation that there is a city in his mind, and for as long as he’s around, we’ll come along and take that ride. David Byrne will perform on Friday, Nov. 28, and Saturday, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. at the Mu- sic Hall at Fair Park, 909 1st Ave. Tickets are available starting at $97.50 on Ticketmaster. Shervin Laine | B-SIDES | t Music Enjoy David Byrne’s new album before he comes to Dallas this fall.
