"David Byrne's American Utopia, released in 2018 as a resistance manifesto and rallying cry during the first Trump administration, was as ambitious as its title. Beginning as a songwriting reunion with his old partner Brian Eno, the album ballooned into a Broadway production that was eventually captured on film by Spike Lee. Every iteration and star collaboration positioned American Utopia as a major statement, a reckoning with the distance between the illustrious promise of the United States and its benighted reality."
"Arriving after all that commotion, Who Is the Sky? feels like a sigh of relief, an exhale after such a gargantuan endeavor. The two albums, so different in feel, derive from the same premise: Joy is precious in the 21st century, so it's worth celebrating the reasons to be cheerful. That phrase, lifted from an old new-wave hit from Ian Dury & the Blockheads, is the name of Byrne's ongoing cross-platform positivity project, a kind of Buzzfeed for relentless optimists."
"Byrne certainly sounds tirelessly exuberant on What Is the Sky?, thanks in part to the assist he receives from Ghost Train Orchestra, a freewheeling ensemble that's no stranger to ambitious undertakings. Prior to teaming with Byrne, the collective released a tribute to visionary polymath Moondog, performed in collaboration with avant-classical veterans Kronos Quartet. If any group can navigate Byrne's buoyant polyrhythms and sly stylistic shifts, it's Ghost Train Orchestra."
American Utopia functioned as a politically charged, multi-platform project that expanded from songwriting into Broadway and film, confronting gaps between national promise and reality. Who Is the Sky? arrives as a lighter, celebratory follow-up that treats joy as a scarce but vital commodity in the 21st century. The album channels a cross-platform positivity project inspired by an Ian Dury & the Blockheads phrase and prioritizes vivid, colorful songs that emphasize human interaction. Collaboration with Ghost Train Orchestra and producer Kid Harpoon pushes buoyant polyrhythms and pop immediacy while testing the line between genuine uplift and platitude.
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