David Byrne announced the release of his new album American Utopia and an upcoming tour 14 years since his solo LP Grown Backwards.
American Utopia arrives on March 9 via Todomundo/Nonesuch Records. The album is the result of his collaboration with several music producers including Daniel Lopatin, Jam City, Rodaidh McDonald, Thomas Bartlett, Jack Pinate, and longtime collaborator Brian Eno. Byrne recorded the album in studios in London and New York and at his home studio in New York.
Byrne announced the release of his latest album during a presentation of his "Reasons To Be Cheerful" series at New School in New York, in which he curates hopeful music, writings, lectures, and photos.
Talking about American Utopia, the former Talking Heads frontman said that his album is an indirect approach to "aspirational impulses." The songs are sincere, and the titles are not ironic. Byrne said the titles do not refer to a specific utopia, but rather touch on the general feeling of longing, frustration, and refers to people's aspirations, fears, and hopes. The songs touch on the discontent and the desire.
"These songs don't describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now. 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," Byrne said of American Utopia.
Aside from the album release, the singer also announced his North American tour this spring to promote American Utopia, which he described as the most ambitious show he has done since Talking Head's Stop Making Sense. Tickets for his first scheduled U.S. shows are already sold out, although Byrne assured that he will have additional shows in his itinerary, including a show at Coachella in April. The shows available are in Chile on March 16, Argentina on March 18, and Brazil on March 24.
As a teaser, Byrne released the first track from American Utopia called "Everybody's Coming To My House," a song co-written with Eno. The funky, catchy house-party song also features the contribution of Mercury Award winner Sampha, TTY, and Happa Isaiah Barr. Check out the track below with an accompanying visual by Robert Edridge-Waks.
American Utopia is a ten-track album. It is the first from Byrne since he released Grown Backwards in 2004.
