Review: David Byrne Throws a Weird Party in His Mind on ‘American Utopia’
David Byrne’s distinctive vision – a winsomely-skewed clarity – is usually most compelling when trained on scary stuff, be it psycho killers, zealous baptism metaphors, warning signs of things to come, or the sudden strangeness of one’s beautiful house and beautiful wife. Lately, we’ve no shortage of scary stuff, and it’s encouraging that Byrne’s latest solo set is willing to go there. When it does, rhythms and racket ratcheting up accordingly, American Utopia – abetted by an old comrade (Brian Eno, contributing beats) and new ones (Daniel “Oneohtrix Point Never” Lopatin, Sampha/XX producer Rodaidh McDonald) – boasts some of the most exciting music Byrne has made in years.
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