David Byrne has announced the release of a new solo album, entitled American Utopia. Above, you can check out a video for lead track ‘Everybody’s Coming To My House’.
The track is co-written by Brian Eno, and features contributions from TTY, Happa, Onyx Collective’s Isaiah Barr, Sampha and others. It’s available to download now with pre-orders of the new album.
The album was announced during a presentation of ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful’, an ongoing series curated by Byrne of hopeful writings, photos, music, and lectures, at New York’s New School. The release of American Utopia will be accompanied by an extensive worldwide tour featuring a specially choreographed show which Byrne has described as "the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense".
American Utopia is Byrne’s first solo album since 2004’s Grown Backwards, though he has collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno, St. Vincent and Norman Cook in the interim. The album began during writing sessions with longtime collaborator Eno, but eventually grew to take in a vast cast of collaborators such as producer Rodaidh McDonald, Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never), Jam City and others.
"These songs don’t describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now," Byrne says. "Many of us, I suspect, are not satisfied with that world—the world we have made for ourselves. We look around and we ask ourselves—well, does it have to be like this? Is there another way? These songs are about that looking and that asking.
"This album is indirectly about those aspirational impulses. Sometimes to describe is to reveal, to see other possibilities. To ask a question is to begin the process of looking for an answer. To be descriptive is also to be prescriptive, in a way. The act of asking is a big step. The songs are sincere—the title is not ironic. The title refers not to a specific utopia, but rather to our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, and hopes regarding what could be possible, what else is possible. The description, the discontent and the desire—I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on."
The 10-track album is set for release via Nonesuch and Todomundo Records on March 9, with a European tour to follow this summer.
