David Byrne's first solo album in seven years Who Is The Sky? is out this Friday, which recently occasioned a great chat with Stereogum's buildings and food correspondent Rachel Brown. Today, as one last advance preview of the album, Byrne has shared a new collab with Hayley Williams, who also recently appeared in Stereogum videos with Brown. It's all connected, people!
The song is a mariachi-flavored lament called "What Is The Reason For It?" It continues the Paramore/Talking Heads lovefest that's been ongoing for several years, maybe even dating back to "Hard Times."
Listen below.
The new album is not all Byrne has going on this week. He's also getting married. (Incidentally, his daughter got married in May to the creator of SubwayTakes, and yes, Byrne just did a SubwayTakes episode to promote the new LP.)
On his Instagram story Sunday, Byrne posted links to a playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and Mixcloud. "I'm getting married this week and made an almost entirely instrumental playlist while our guests eat an amazing and spicy dinner," he wrote. "My sense is that words & lyrics can be distracting — the ear goes to them, especially if it's a song one knows. So, I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere... and that folks can also ignore at the same time." Presumably he intended to include the instrumental version of Post Malone's "Wow.," which is actually quite popular (as in 1.8 million Spotify plays popular).
In other Byrne news, he performed last night at Rough Trade NYC:
@adventuresofvictoria David Byrne surprised his fans tonight at an album listening event at Rough Trade NYC @David Byrne #davidbyrne #everybodylaughs #nyc #talkingheads #roughtrade
♬ original sound - Victoria?
Lastly, please enjoy highlights from our File with Byrne, including this one where Brown teaches him about Soulja Boy:
@stereogum Next week @David Byrne will release ‘Who Is The Sky?,’ his first album since 2018’s ‘American Utopia,’ which became a Tony Award-winning Broadway production. For a special video edition of our series We’ve Got A File On You, Stereogum’s buildings and food correspondent Rachel Brown (@waterfromyoureyes) sat down with Byrne to discuss some of the varied moments across the music legend’s 50 year career. Byrne reflected on playing in the proto- @Talking Heads band the Artistics, founding the label Luaka Bop, appearing on ‘Beavis And Butt-Head,’ joining Olivia Rodrigo at Gov Ball, scoring a number one dance hit with X-Press 2, writing “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody),” and more. Check out the full interview at youtube.com/stereogum.com and look for ‘Who Is The Sky?’ via @Matador Records on 9/5! Interviewer: Rachel Brown A Cam: Thomas Lange B Cam: Farah Jabir Gaffer: Megan Bodmer Editor: Thomas Lange Producer: Scott Lapatine #DavidByrne #TalkingHeads #XPress2 #SouljaBoy #Dougie
♬ original sound - stereogum
And this one reflecting on Beavis And Butt-Head:
@stereogum We’ve Got A file On You: @David Byrne. ? In the first video edition of our long-running series of interviews with music icons, Stereogum animation correspondent Rachel Brown (@waterfromyoureyes) found out if the @Talking Heads frontman was aware of @Beavis and Butt-Head’s encounter with his 1994 banger “Angels.” Check out the full Q&A at youtube.com/stereogum! #DavidByrne #TalkingHeads #BeavisAndButtHead #WaterFromYourEyes #MikeJudge
♬ original sound - stereogum
And this one where he discusses friend and collaborator Olivia Rodrigo:
@stereogum This week @David Byrne will release his new album ‘Who Is The Sky?’ and, he’s just revealed, get married. You can check out his wedding dinner playlist, which includes Post Malone’s “Wow.,” on Spotify and Apple Music. Stereogum’s dance correspondent Rachel recently met up with the music legend for our We’ve Got A File On You series and got some intel regarding another current pop star he’s a fan of. ? ? Check out the full interview at youtube.com/stereogum! @Olivia Rodrigo @govballnyc Interviewer: Rachel Brown A Cam: Thomas Lange B Cam: Farah Jabir Gaffer: Megan Bodmer Editor: Thomas Lange Producer: Scott Lapatine #DavidByrne #OliviaRodrigo #TalkingHeads #GovBall #WaterFromYourEyes
♬ original sound - stereogum
Who Is The Sky? is out 9/5 via Matador.
