Secret Meeting score: 79
by Phil Scarisbrick
Since his tenure as commander-in-chief of Talking Heads and through his wide-ranging solo career, David Byrne has always been an artist who has been able to take snippets from contemporary culture, eat them up and regurgitate them in a way that is wonderfully skewed.
This is not a criticism, more a remark on how colourful the mind of this artist is in the way he constructs his stories. When he teams them with dream-like melodies that again, appear to only be possible in Byrne’s mind, the result has always had the potential to be awe-inspiring. His kaleidoscopic intellect and razor-sharp wit, combined with beats and noises from long-time friend and collaborator Brian Eno, make up his latest solo effort: American Utopia.
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book – Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City – Matthew Desmond writes, “By and large, the poor do not want some small life. They don’t want to game the system or eke out an existence; they want to thrive and contribute.” It is this optimism that Byrne channels when looking at the stranglehold capitalism has on society and culture in 2018 America. In the sleeve notes he writes, “Is this meant ironically? Is it a joke? Do I mean this seriously? In what way? Am I referring to the past or the future? Is it personal or political? These songs don’t describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place, but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now. Many of us, I suspect are not satisfied with what that world – the world we have made for ourselves. We look around and we ask ourselves – well, does it have to be like this? Is there another way? These songs are about looking and asking that.”
Despite offering a very open and vague context for the record, some songs do seem to nail down a particular problem. Bullet describes a man being shot, with all his thoughts and desires on display as the projectile ends his life. Its directness, coupled with a stark and sombre backing makes it the most politically relevant on the record. Dog’s Mind imagines a Presidential inauguration from the perspective of ‘man’s best friend’. Despite this kooky angle, the song’s lyrics do address more real world issues. “Then the press boys thank the president/And he tells them what to say/There’s a photo opportunity/And then they’re sent away” he sings. In a world where ‘Fake News’ has become the explanation for anything politicians don’t agree with, this verse really hits the mark.
Opening track I Dance Like This starts with Byrne singing over a sparse piano backing, evoking Jersey Girl-era Tom Waits before exploding into a chorus that springs from nowhere. Rodaidh McDonald’s (The XX, King Krule, Adele) production takes Brian Eno’s sharp drum beat to a place that shouldn’t fit with what we’ve just heard, but does so seamlessly. Our first glimpse into Byrne’s vision of American Utopia, sees him describe a world where we take everyone at face-value and don’t judge on any other criteria, but through a metaphor of dance.
The playful Gasoline and Dirty Sheets is Byrne/Eno pop in its purest form. The teasingly-unfinished chorus melody leaves you grasping for more. Another look at how capitalism has failed America, yet again he provides a positive spin by defiantly singing, “Vacuum-packed don’t rock my world/And the money back guarantee don’t make my day/And no feeling of security/They say the answer’s one click away.”
Once again using animal metaphors, Every Day is a Miracle carries the overbearing, search-for-the-promised-land message of the album, but offers some realism. “The rose is pruned to a perfect shape/Perfect for whom, I wonder” is an absolute doozy of an opening line, and is quintessentially David Byrne.
This is That is a fine example of this album’s refreshingly unconventional make up. Co-written with Daniel Lopatin, who normally records under the alias Oneohtrix Point Never, the complex soundtrack juxtaposes instruments that don’t normally come into contact. The sharp, melodic plucks of harp strings layered over a myriad of harsh sounding electronic samples are stablemates that shouldn’t work, but are woven together here beautifully.
Musically he is as interesting as ever, and his voice in pristine condition. His flippancy with the problems faced by those living in a capitalist society, but without any capital, will perhaps be seen by some as distasteful. Another multi-millionaire pop singer extolling his virtues, using his pulpit of music to impose his opinions. In truth, he does nothing of the sort. He himself admits that he doesn’t have the answers, but is willing to ask the questions. As Matthew Desmond also wrote, “There is nothing in the prospect of a sharp, unceasing battle for the bare necessities of life to encourage looking ahead, everything to discourage the effort.” By asking the questions on their behalf, he may help the poorest in America find out if there are any answers to their problems.
“I have no prescriptions or surefire answers, but I sense that I am not the only one looking and asking, wondering and still holding onto some tiny bit of hope, unwilling to succumb entirely to despair or cynicism.” Byrne concludes. The search for an American Utopia may be futile, but where would we be without dreamers? Few express their dreams as wonderfully and enjoyably as David Byrne.
