David Byrne is back with news of his next album, Who Is the Sky?. The follow-up to 2018’s American Utopia is set to arrive on September 5 via Matador Records. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the upbeat new single ‘Everybody Laughs’, which is accompanied by a video directed by multimedia artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo. Check it out below, and scroll down for the album cover, tracklist, and Byrne’s upcoming tour dates.
Produced by Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), Who Is the Sky? features appearances from St. Vincent, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, The Smile drummer Tom Skinner, and American Utopia percussionist Mauro Refosco. The record’s 12 tracks were arranged by the members of New York-based chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra.
“Someone I know said, ‘David, you use the word ‘everybody’ a lot,'” Byrne said in a press release. “I suppose I do that to give an anthropological view of life in New York as we know it. Everybody lives, dies, laughs, cries, sleeps and stares at the ceiling. Everybody’s wearing everybody else’s shoes, which not everybody does, but I have done. I tried to sing about these things that could be seen as negative in a way balanced by an uplifting feeling from the groove and the melody, especially at the end, when St. Vincent and I are doing a lot of hollering and singing together. Music can do that – hold opposites simultaneously. I realized that when singing with Robyn earlier this year. Her songs are often sad, but the music is joyous.”
“It took me a second to realize, oh yeah, these songs are personal, but with David’s unique perspective on life in general,” Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) added. “Walking around New York listening to the demo of ‘Everybody Laughs’ was so joyous, because it made me feel like we’re all the same – we all laugh, cry and sing. The thing about David that resonates with a lot of people is that he’s in on the joke. He gets the absurdity of it all, and all of these personal observations are his perspective on it.”
Byrne recruited Ghost Train Orchestra after hearing their 2023 tribute album to the blind New York composer and street poet Moondog. “David sent me some demos and asked us to put together some orchestral ideas,” Ghost Train Orchestra leader Brian Carpenter recalled. “Curtis Hasselbring and I quickly wrote a couple rough draft arrangements of his songs for Ghost Train, including ‘My Apartment Is My Friend,’ which was the first song we rehearsed at our tiny rehearsal space in Chinatown. To hear him singing with us for the first time on that song was just incredible.”
“I suspected that intimate orchestral arrangements would bring out the emotion I sense is there in these songs,” Byrne expounded. “It’s something that folks don’t always hear in my work, but this time for sure I thought it was there. At the same time, I also see myself as someone who aspires to be accessible. I imagined that Kid Harpoon would help with that, as well as being a set of trusted ears, since there was a lot going on. People think of producers as people who mainly make a record sound good, and Kid Harpoon did that, but he was also aware of how important the storytelling is.”
Who Is the Sky? Cover Artwork:
Who Is the Sky? Tracklist:
1. Everybody Laughs
2. When We Are Singing
3. My Apartment Is My Friend
4. A Door Called No
5. What Is the Reason for It?
6. I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party
7. Don’t Be Like That
8. The Avant Garde
9. Moisturizing Thing
10. I’m an Outsider
11. She Explains Things to Me
12. The Truth
David Byrne 2025/2026 Tour Dates:
Sep 14 – Providence, RI – Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Sep 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – Benedum Center PAC
Sep 17 – Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium
Sep 19 – Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre
Sep 21 – Schenectady, NY – Proctors
Sep 23 – Syracuse, NY – Landmark Theatre
Sep 25 – Buffalo, NY – Shea’s Buffalo Theatre
Sep 27 – Washington D.C. – The Anthem
Sep 28 – Washington D.C. – The Anthem
Sep 30 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Oct 1 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Oct 3 – Boston, MA – Boch Center Wang Theatre
Oct 4 – Boston, MA – Boch Center Wang Theatre
Oct 7 – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Oakdale Theatre
Oct 8 – Portland, ME – Merrill Auditorium at City Hall
Oct 10 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Oct 14 – Richmond, VA – Altria Theater
Oct 16 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
Oct 17 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
Oct 21 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Massey Hall
Oct 22 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Massey Hall
Oct 25 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
Oct 28 – Chicago, IL – The Auditorium
Oct 29 – Chicago, IL – The Auditorium
Oct 31 – Chicago, IL – The Auditorium
Nov 3 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre
Nov 4 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre
Nov 6 – Denver, CO – Bellco Theatre
Nov 7 – Denver, CO – Bellco Theatre
Nov 11 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
Nov 12 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
Nov 16 – San Francisco, CA – The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Nov 17 – San Francisco, CA – The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Nov 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Dolby Theatre
Nov 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Dolby Theatre
Nov 25 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
Nov 26 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
Nov 28 – Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair Park
Nov 29 – Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair Park
Dec 2 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
Dec 3 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
Dec 5 – Miami, FL – Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre
Dec 6 – Miami, FL – Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theatre
Jan 14 – Auckland, New Zealand – Spark Arena
Jan 17 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Center
Jan 21 – Sydney, Australia – ICC Sydney Theatre
Jan 22 – Melbourne, Australia – Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Jan 24 – Adelaide, Australia – Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena
Jan 27 – Perth, Australia – RAC Arena
Feb 12 – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom
Feb 15 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
Feb 16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
Feb 18 – Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
Feb 21 – Milan, Italy – Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Feb 22 – Milan, Italy – Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Feb 24 – Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
Feb 27 – Zurich, Switzerland – The Hall
Mar 2 – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
Mar 3 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
Mar 4 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
Mar 6 – Glasgow, UK – SEC Armadillo
Mar 7 – Glasgow, UK – SEC Armadillo
Mar 9 – Manchester, UK – o2 Apollo
Mar 10 – Manchester, UK – o2 Apollo
Mar 13 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
Mar 15 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
Mar 18 – Paris, France – La Seine Musicale
Mar 19 – Paris, France – La Seine Musicale
