Alongside the announcement of his marriage, he also shared the playlist he is planning on playing while his wedding guests will hear during the dinner service. The playlist only features instrumentals as Byrne has claimed that “words and lyrics can be distracting – the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows.” Byrne’s dedication to music knows no bounds as he has even curated the soundtrack to his own wedding. Byrne has always had an ear from music made around the world, evidenced in his early Talking Head days.

The Talking Heads album ‘Remain In Light‘ features percussion inspired by Nigerian icon Fela Kuti, German experimental rock band CAN and polyrhythms featured in Afro-Caribbean music. ‘Remain in Light‘ is only one example as his worldwide influences reach through all his music.

This new playlist, titled ‘David Byrne Radio Presents; Dinner Music‘ features 42 songs and runs for just under two and a half hours. This playlist features lots of Latin-inspired instrumentals such as ‘En El Caribe Estoy Triste’ by ‘Meridian Brothers‘, ‘Pa Japón’ by ‘El Alfa‘ and ‘Guajira Sicodélica’ by ‘Los Destellos‘.

He also includes instrumentals from well-known artists such as Brian Eno (‘An Ending (Ascent)’), Jeff Beck (‘Corpus Christi Carol’), Herbie Hancock (‘Watermelon Man’) and Post Malone (‘Wow.’). Even though the playlist consists of only instrumentals, the quality is so high that guests may still be distracted while they ask their neighbours what song is playing or subtly use Shazam.

Included on the playlist is the orchestral ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. David Byrne is currently working with Ghost Train Orchestra to release a new album. The new album, titled ‘Who Is The Sky?’ will be released this Friday September 5 and is a full collaboration between the two artists. The album is available for pre-order here. Byrne and Ghost Train Orchestra have currently released three singles from the new album, ‘Everybody Laughs’, ‘The Avant Garde’ and ‘She Explains Things To Me’. A fourth single titled ‘What Is The Reason For It?’ featuring Hayley Williams (Paramore) will be released tomorrow September 3. See the music video to ‘Everybody Laughs’ below:

Byrne is also touring in the UK next year with his latest album, tickets are available here. His UK tour dates are as follows:

David Byrne 2026 UK Tour Dates;

March 2 – Cardiff Utilita Arena

March 3 – London Eventim Apollo

March 4 – London Eventim Apollo

March 6 – Glasgow Armadillo

March 7 – Glasgow Armadillo

March 9 – Manchester O2 Apollo

March 10 – Manchester O2 Apollo

March 11 – Manchester O2 Apollo

March 15 – London Eventim Apollo

March 16 – London Eventim Apollo

In March of 2023, film studio A24, known for the production of critically acclaimed films like Ari Aster’s Misommar, Daniel Kwan’s and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, acquired the distribution rights for Stop Making Sense. In September of 2023, the film was restored and re-released in public cinemas across the world. Alongside the film, a remastered track list from the feature was released both online and on physical formats. Financially, A24’s distribution deal was wildly successful. According to Variety, the re-release drew $5m (£3.9m) in sales, a figure that, admittedly by a small margin, outstripped the film’s original run in 1984. The film was not only successful at the box office, but it was also a hit with audiences, with viral footage from 2023 showing audiences leaping out of their seats to dance along to the 16-track setlist.

Given the popularity of the re-release, and the film’s 40th anniversary landing on this year, Stop Making Sense will return to cinemas once again. Seeing limited release across the US, Canada, and UK, cinemagoers will be able to catch the show starting January 27.  Tickets are currently available, but make sure to grab them fast, as there are only six screenings currently scheduled in the United Kingdom, five of which are at the Prince Charles Cinema in London.

As well as the film’s re-re-release, A24 has announced that they will sell a collection of limited-edition merchandise. The September 2023 release saw a range of clothing and a DVD/BluRay edition being sold. This year’s showing will bring with it a Zine, as well as a pre-sale for another round of home releases on January 27th.

Whether you are a long-standing Talking Heads fan or you were born over a decade after the band’s final studio album, Stop Making Sense proves the enduring appeal of David Byrne’s enigmatic band.

London’s King Charles Cinema will be hosting Stop Making Sense on the 27th of January, the 24th of February, the 30th of March, the 27th of April, and the 25th of May. Additionally, the Warwick University’s Student Cinema will feature the film on the 22nd of February.

The show launched yesterday on the Sonos Sound System Station which can be found on the Sonos app. It can be found today on Mixcloud in its entirety. Going forward, the show will be made available to listen to on the first of every month for the foreseeable future. This is not the first time that Byrne has ventured outside of music as he has taken part in acting jobs and TED Talks for a few years now.

catch themanthemyththelegend theheadtalkinghead thecuratorofcurators @DBtodomundo as my guest on @Sonos Sound System today! i show him my color guard skills & we share a fookin’ big announcement- DB is curating a monthly show on the station!! & of course his dj set slaaays. pic.twitter.com/sc5bNK3dLD

— elia einhorn (@eliaeinhorn) July 29, 2020

Later this year another one of his side projects, the Broadway show American Utopia, is set to have a film version premiere on HBO. This is set to be directed by Spike Lee which shows the quality of the work. The production is written by Byrne and features songs from his solo work and his Talking Heads days. So, again, fans of both sets of work will be able to find some enjoyment out of this. 

The show toured the world off the back of his solo album of the same name, before making the transition into being a broadway show. He subsequently named his live EP of the show after a review from NME. He named it “The best live show of all time”. This is both wildly cocky and genius at the same time.

Throughout the years Byrne has shown us that to be a musician, does not mean you have to stick to that. From acting, writing, doing TED Talks, cycling and doing multiple radio shows Byrne has covered it all. This is forgetting the amount of classics that he has produced whilst in a band and out of one. He really is one of the most adaptable artists around even after all these years.

His show has been described as ‘the best live show around’, and fans are holding out hope for his radio show as well as potential live gigs once it’s been deemed safe for them. Not only does it carry this mantle but it also is being directed by another unique character in Spike Lee which ensures the quality of the production will be taken to another level with the top class director at the helm.

The tour is in support of his latest album, 2018’s ‘American Utopia’, and will apparently be one of his most elaborate and theatrical live productions to date. Discussing the upcoming tour Byrne himself said: “I’m excited. This is the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense, so fingers crossed.”

In addition to Byrne’s solo efforts, Talking Heads’ fans can hold out hope of hearing some of their old favourites, with the former lead singer going on to say “We’ll be doing some new songs, and many others that will, I assume, be familiar.”

The newly announced dates follow a string of UK shows that are already sold out, with David set to perform in Oxford, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London later in June. However, the new tour additions cover a much wider variety of locations, hitting everywhere from Dublin to Cardiff, Nottingham to Brighton.

Tickets will be available here from 12pm June 18th, and a full listing of all dates can be seen below:

Sunday October 21 2018 – Leeds First Direct Arena
Monday October 22 2018 – Glasgow SSE Hydro
Wednesday October 24 2018 – Dublin 3Arena
Friday October 26 2018 – Birmingham Genting Arena
Saturday October 27 2018 – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Monday October 29 2018 – London O2 Arena
Tuesday October 30 2018 – Brighton Centre
Thursday November 01 2018 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Friday November 02 2018 – Manchester Arena

‘Everybody’s Coming to my House’ is a preview to the singer’s upcoming album American Utopia, which will drop later this year, and will mark Byrne’s first solo LP in 14 years, and 2004’s Grow Backwards. This groove-heavy track also credits fellow icon Brian Eno as a co-writer.

Eno is not the only guest contributor on American Utopia, with TTY, Jack Penate, and Mercury Prize winner Sampha also appearing on the album.

A small # of east coast shows! We’ll be doing some new songs, & many others that will, I assume, be familiar. I’m excited. This is the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense, so fingers crossed. Info @ https://t.co/B8YgcnekRv pic.twitter.com/ehQ41X1MyD

— DavidByrne.com (@DBtodomundo) December 12, 2017

Accompanying the album’s announcement was an extensive tour of North and South America, which Byrne proclaimed via the Tweet above to be his ‘most ambitious’ dates since the heady days of Stop Making Sense in the 1980s.

Back in December, Byrne went into more depth about what the upcoming live dates would involve, telling the Brooklyn Vegan about his desire to use mobile instruments. “With everyone mobile, I realized the stage could be completely clear. If we could have the monitors in our ears, the amps off-stage and the lights up high, then we had the possibility of a completely empty space,” he explained, before continuing to describe how his stage set “takes color beautifully. Not only does it take color, one can cast shadows.”

Byrne has also issued a statement about American Utopia, attempting to clarify the seriousness of the LP’s title.

”

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 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 that looking and that asking.

This album is indirectly about those aspirational impulses. Sometimes to describe is to reveal, to see other possibilities. To ask a question is to begin the process of looking for an answer. To be descriptive is also to be prescriptive, in a way. The act of asking is a big step. The songs are sincere—the title is not ironic. The title refers not to a specific utopia, but rather to our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, and hopes regarding what could be possible, what else is possible. The description, the discontent and the desire—I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on.

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.”