Album Review: David Byrne - 'Who is the Sky?'
David Byrne’s Who is the Sky? is a life-affirming album of joy, expression, love and affection amongst the darkest of places: and ultimately a need to just sit back and have fun.
American Utopia healed us all in 2018 (and again in 2020 when we saw the film at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic), and now Byrne is back with Who is the Sky? – a madcap, eccentric album that just allows to sit back and let him have fun. Working with the Ghost Train Orchestra and drawing in the likes of St. Vincent, Hayley Williams, Tom Skinner off The Smile and Mauro Refosco, it’s a killer of an album. Everybody Laughs is a mission statement: “Everybody lives, dies, laughs, cries, sleeps and stares at the ceiling…” Byrne opens the titular track: a lot of singing and joyous melodies that flow together, it has a way of drawing everyone, no matter who you are and where you’re from, into a collective whole that resonates in a way that doesn’t feel cheesy but overbearingly honest and optimistic – a yearning for a community and a better place than we are in now. It’s Byrne asking not just who the sky is – but who we are, as people – and everything that comes because of that – after all, we all operate under the same sky and “everybody’s wearing everybody else’s shoes.”
The album is about starting a new chapter for Byrne “when you turn the pages; I hear you call my name,” heralds the arrival of second song When We Are Singing, bookended by My Apartment is My Friend, a track about the isolation and the need of living in an apartment for escapism and familiarity. “you’ve seen me at my very worst / but we always get along” he says, demonstrating the need for the connectiveness of everybody and the desire to codify happiness amongst the despair. “you have witnessed my confusion,” he bookends with She Explains Things to Me, a lyric of the willingness to be listened to and talked at – in a softer, emotional commentary on the everyday sweetness of life and explaining movie details to someone you love in eccentric detail.
This, and Everybody Laughs, are the roaring triumphs of the singles from the ex-Talking Heads frontman, a visionary artist in his own right – examining the dismissal of women’s perspectives by men and instead taking the time to bask in their awe and show how they should be held up and valued: it’s a spit-in-your face attitude that encourages us all to be above mansplaining and hold the values of communication in greater worth. In this case he says, “I am the one asking,” and for an age where most people have stopped giving a shit what people think about him; he has developed an ability to “step outside [his] comfort zone”.
A Door Called No tells the story of doors being well, closed on Byrne till he meets a girl and they share a kiss – the yearning of love; their absolution – every sound, every stone – “the whole world is yes” – there’s a touch of earnest simplicity about the lyrics and their themes that make them so infectiously likeable and hard to ignore. Much like What is the Reason For It? (about the feelings of love and how they can make you feel like someone else) “is it my body or my brain?” Byrne asks – working with Hayley Williams for an affectionally charged song that showcases the vocals of both artists at their unmatched best – both sharing similar pasts as ex-frontpeople of bands, trying something new and succeeding.
I Met the Budda at a Downtown Party, continues that free-flowing tale of fun – Byrne encounters the Budda stuffing his face with pastries and having conversation about the nature of eating unhealthy food given his enlightened status; but the Budda’s response encourages the theme of Byrne’s need to stop listening to critics and embrace what he does best, work without the need to conform to critics – encouraging him to join him eating his blueberry tart. It’s joy – Byrne has never been one to follow trends, and he’s happy, like the Budda in the song; doing his own thing and thriving off the back of that – because after all, neither of them exist so why does it really matter?
The album is free-flowing, entertaining and just a pure escape from reality that the world needs right now – Byrne has found a way to recapture the magic that American Utopia brought to the table and follow up that effortless vibes that highlight just how unexplainable love is and enlightenment means very different things to very different people; but it’s always a good idea to moisturize regardless of the skin that you have in the morning or not. It’s the blend between the surreal and the real – pop and something more (The Avant Garde pokes fun at his embracement of the genre and how he likes the idea but doesn’t really understand it) – but never with an attitude that looks down at the genre, operating within its sphere. It’s an exploration of human connection that guides us all – optimistic and endearing encouraging a need of social connection amongst us all – and the world would be a lot weaker place without it; or Byrne – operating solo without the need for a Talking Heads reunion. One of the strongest records of 2025 is here – and you’d be surprised if it was from anyone else.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
