David Byrne has shared his track 'The Avant Garde' from upcoming new album 'Who Is the Sky?
Album features arrangements by Ghost Train Orchestra and guests from Paramore, St. Vincent.
David Byrne has released a new track, 'The Avant Garde', taken from his forthcoming album 'Who Is the Sky?', due 5th September via Matador Records.
The song addresses the idea of art for art’s sake – “it’s ahead of the curve / it’s deceptively weighty, profound, absurd / it’s whatever fits” – and follows previous singles 'Everybody Laughs' and 'She Explains Things to Me'. 'Who Is the Sky?' is Byrne’s first full-length since 2018’s 'American Utopia', which later became a Broadway production and HBO film.
Discussing the new track, Byrne says: “Some people will hear this and say, "David is calling bullshit on his friends" but it's more nuanced than that. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to plenty of shows that might be classified as avant-garde or experimental. Edgy and untraditional work is hugely inspiring to me, as it often changes the way I think and influences what I do (without me simply appropriating the ideas, I hope).
"That said, trying something unproven and radically new is risky. Sometimes, as with anything risky, it doesn't quite hit the bullseye. There's no guarantee that it will achieve what it aims to do, but when it does, the emotional and intellectual rewards are worth it. That is the risk one takes while making something new and unconventional.
"So yes, there are times when it doesn't mean shit, but often there are times when something wholly original comes into being and it's all worth it. I love that the Ghost Train folks and Kid Harpoon took what could have been a fairly conventional song I'd written (musically at least), and steered it into something that to me sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Dirty Projectors.”
Produced by Grammy-winner Kid Harpoon, the album’s 12 tracks were arranged by New York chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra, with contributions from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, St. Vincent and The Smile’s Tom Skinner.
The song addresses the idea of art for art’s sake – “it’s ahead of the curve / it’s deceptively weighty, profound, absurd / it’s whatever fits” – and follows previous singles 'Everybody Laughs' and 'She Explains Things to Me'. 'Who Is the Sky?' is Byrne’s first full-length since 2018’s 'American Utopia', which later became a Broadway production and HBO film.
Discussing the new track, Byrne says: “Some people will hear this and say, "David is calling bullshit on his friends" but it's more nuanced than that. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to plenty of shows that might be classified as avant-garde or experimental. Edgy and untraditional work is hugely inspiring to me, as it often changes the way I think and influences what I do (without me simply appropriating the ideas, I hope).
"That said, trying something unproven and radically new is risky. Sometimes, as with anything risky, it doesn't quite hit the bullseye. There's no guarantee that it will achieve what it aims to do, but when it does, the emotional and intellectual rewards are worth it. That is the risk one takes while making something new and unconventional.
"So yes, there are times when it doesn't mean shit, but often there are times when something wholly original comes into being and it's all worth it. I love that the Ghost Train folks and Kid Harpoon took what could have been a fairly conventional song I'd written (musically at least), and steered it into something that to me sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Dirty Projectors.”
Produced by Grammy-winner Kid Harpoon, the album’s 12 tracks were arranged by New York chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra, with contributions from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, St. Vincent and The Smile’s Tom Skinner.
Get more Dork
Sessions · Playlists · Behind the scenes
