![]() ![]() ![]() That’s just the first of American Utopia’s many losing gambits. It takes less than a minute to realize you’re in store for a rough ride, when the swooning, mannerly “I Dance Like This” is upended by a robotic breakdown-a throwback to a very 1980s notion of coolness that scans as hopelessly dated today. Yet, almost as often, it’s clumsy or gaudy, if not outright grating. Beyond American Utopia’s rictus optimism-Byrne’s method of pushing back against the cynical politics of the moment-the album has plenty to commend: It’s bright, daring, and open-hearted, the work of an artist who has thrown himself into his work absolutely. It’s hard to determine how much goodwill that affords him. Nonetheless, with his latest, Byrne does what so few of his peers will: He takes some actual risks. ![]() More dramatically, he announced it in conjunction with a huge tour behind what he’s called “the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense.” He’s all but daring audiences to compare American Utopia to his Talking Heads heyday, a comparison that doesn’t flatter even his best solo albums-and American Utopia, to be clear, is not one of his best albums. Rather than subtly downplaying expectations for his latest project, he’s actively drummed them by billing American Utopia as his first solo album in 14 years (technically true, but he’s made plenty of collaborative albums in the interim). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |