American Utopia

American Utopia is the seventh solo studio album (and tenth studio album overall) by British-American rock musician David Byrne, released on March 9, 2018 through Todo Mundo and Nonesuch Records. The release is his first solo studio album since 2004's Grown Backwards, and serves as a musical component of a larger multimedia project titled Reasons to Be Cheerful, which attempts to spread positivity. Byrne announced the album and posted its lead single, "Everybody's Coming to My House", online on January 8, 2018.[1]

American Utopia
Studio album by
David Byrne
ReleasedMarch 9, 2018 (2018-03-09)
Studio
  • DB Spare Bedroom (New York City)
  • Reservoir Studios (NYC)
  • Oscilloscope (NYC)
  • XL Studios (NYC)
  • Crowdspacer Studio (NYC)
  • Livingston Studio 1 (London)
Genre
Length37:17
Label
Producer
David Byrne chronology
Brass Tactics
(2014)		 American Utopia
(2018)

Recording and release

The album is part of a larger multimedia project titled Reasons to Be Cheerful which aims to give reasons for being happy and optimistic in spite of political strife and environmental problems.[1] The title is derived from the Ian Dury song "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3".[2]

Reception

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.0/10[3]
Metacritic72/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. ClubB[6]
The Daily Telegraph[7]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[8]
The Guardian[9]
Mojo[10]
NME[11]
Pitchfork5.8/10[12]
Q[13]
Rolling Stone[14]

American Utopia received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4] The Arts Desk's Howard Male gave the album a positive review calling it a "a muscular and quirky return to form".[15] Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the album a B, calling the album an uneven "mixed bag" but praising the album's themes.[6]

Commercial reception

American Utopia became Byrne's first top 10 album on the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 3 with the equivalent of 63,000 copies sold in the United States.[16]

Broadway show

In late 2019, Byrne was joined by 11 musicians to perform a modified version of American Utopia that incorporated several hits by Talking Heads into the soundtrack. The concert premiered at the Hudson Theatre in previews on October 4, 2019 and officially on October 20, closing on February 16, 2020.[17] It will return to the Hudson for another limited engagement in September 2020.

Performances were filmed by Spike Lee for an upcoming theatrical documentary/concert film, set to be released in late 2020,[18] debuting on HBO.[19]

Track listing

All songs written by David Byrne and Brian Eno, except where noted.

  1. "I Dance Like This" – 3:33
  2. "Gasoline and Dirty Sheets" – 3:19
  3. "Every Day Is a Miracle" – 4:46
  4. "Dog's Mind" – 2:29
  5. "This Is That" (Byrne, Daniel Lopatin) – 4:31
  6. "It's Not Dark Up Here" – 4:10
  7. "Bullet" – 3:09
  8. "Doing the Right Thing" – 3:38
  9. "Everybody's Coming to My House" – 3:29
  10. "Here" (Byrne, Lopatin) – 4:13

Personnel

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 82
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 88
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24] 2
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[25] 37
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 43
French Albums (SNEP)[27] 129
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 31
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 18
Italian Albums (FIMI)[30] 32
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[31] 2
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[32] 10
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 21
UK Albums (OCC)[35] 16
US Billboard 200[36] 3

References
  1. Adams, Erik (January 8, 2018). "David Byrne's first solo album in 14 years is coming this March". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  2. "David Byrne's New Album, American Utopia, Due March 9 on Todomundo / Nonesuch Records". Nonesuch Records. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  3. "American Utopia by David Byrne reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  4. "American Utopia by David Byrne Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  5. Deming, Mark. "American Utopia – David Byrne". AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  6. Adams, Erik (March 8, 2018). "David Byrne can be your guide to an uneven American Utopia". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  7. McCormick, Neil (March 8, 2018). "David Byrne's American Utopia is another glittering offering from an old master – review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  8. Greenblatt, Leah (March 16, 2018). "David Byrne: American Utopia". Entertainment Weekly: 107.
  9. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (March 9, 2018). "David Byrne: American Utopia review – anxiety dreams from centrist dad". The Guardian. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  10. Segal, Victoria (April 2018). "David Byrne: American Utopia". Mojo (293): 95.
  11. Cochrane, Greg (March 5, 2018). "David Byrne – 'American Utopia' Review". NME. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  12. Rytlewski, Evan (March 12, 2018). "David Byrne: American Utopia". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  13. Doyle, Tom (April 2018). "Dream Team". Q (383): 114.
  14. Hermes, Will (March 9, 2018). "Review: David Byrne Throws a Weird Party in His Mind on 'American Utopia'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  15. Male, Howard (March 3, 2018). "CD: David Byrne – American Utopia". The Arts Desk. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  16. Caulfield, Keith (March 18, 2018). "David Byrne Achieves First Top 10 Album on Billboard 200 Chart with American Utopia". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  17. "David Byrne's American Utopia Gets Monthlong Extension on Broadway". Broadway.com. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  18. Krep, Daniel (February 1, 2020). "Spike Lee to Direct Film Version of David Byrne's American Utopia Broadway Show". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  19. Hayes, Britt (June 17, 2020). "HBO Will Premiere David Byrne's American Utopia, Filmed by Spike Lee". The A. V. Club. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  20. "ARIA Chart Watch #464". auspOp. March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  21. "Austriancharts.at – David Byrne – American Utopia" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  22. "Ultratop.be – David Byrne – American Utopia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  23. "Ultratop.be – David Byrne – American Utopia" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  24. "David Byrne Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  25. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201811 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  26. "Dutchcharts.nl – David Byrne – American Utopia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  27. "Lescharts.com – David Byrne – American Utopia". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – David Byrne – American Utopia" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  29. "Irish-charts.com – Discography David Byrne". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  30. "Italiancharts.com – David Byrne – American Utopia". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  31. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  32. "Portuguesecharts.com – David Byrne – American Utopia". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  33. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  34. "Swisscharts.com – David Byrne – American Utopia". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  35. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  36. Caulfield, Keith (March 18, 2018). "Logic Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Bobby Tarantino II'". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
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