‘Led Zeppelin Meets Dirty Projectors’: David Byrne Shares ‘The Avant Garde’ Single

David Byrne shared a new single, “The Avant Garde.” The track is set for the former Talking Heads frontman’s upcoming album, Who Is The Sky?, arriving on September 5 via Matador Records.

“The Avant Garde” is the third preview of Who Is The Sky, David Byrne’s first album since releasing the acclaimed American Utopia in 2018, which was adapted into a hit Broadway musical and HBO film. Byrne previously released the Who Is The Sky? cuts “Everybody Laughs” and “She Explains Things To Me.”

Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus) produced Who Is The Sky?, with the LP’s 12 tracks arranged by New York-based chamber ensemble Ghost Train Ochestra. David Byrne praised Kid Harpoon and Ghost Train Orchestra in describing the latest Who Is The Sky? single, “The Avant Garde”:

“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.”

Listen to “The Avant Garde” in the lyric video below:

David Byrne launches his massive North American Tour around Who Is The Sky on September 14 in Providence, Rhode Island. Scroll down for the full itinerary and ticket info.