“I never thought of myself as being ‘one of those guys’, but I guess to some extent I am.”
On 1 March, David Byrne posted an image to Twitter, featuring the artists who had collaborated on the forthcoming album American Utopia.
Instead of drumming up anticipation for the new album, his first solo record in 14 years, the image revealed that Byrne had only recruited male collaborators. The backlash was swift, with many Twitter users calling out the lack of women present.
David Byrne has a special place in my heart, but it seems like women don’t have a place in this American Utopia. pic.twitter.com/WnmV8YyLoJ
— Lauren Martin (@codeinedrums) March 1, 2018
On Monday, the Talking Heads frontman addressed the issue of his lack of contributions from female artists. In a note posted to social media, Byrne admitted he had been, “negligent” and expressed regret.
“I’d like to thank those of you who wrote for calling attention to this – this matters a lot to me,” Byrne wrote. “This lack of representation is something that is problematic and wide spread in our industry. I regret not hiring and collaborating with women for this album – it’s ridiculous, it’s not who I am and it certainly doesn’t match how I’ve worked in the past. It doesn’t represent my current live show, which has a slew of diverse creators and collaborators, making this even more negligent on my part.”
Byrne added: “I am happy that we live in a time that this conversation is happening. It’s hard to realize that no matter how much effort you spend nudging the world in what you hope is the right direction, sometimes you are part of the problem.”
“I never thought of myself as being ‘one of those guys,’ but I guess to some extent I am. Your responses serve as a corrective. Thank you.”
You can read the full statement below. The new album is released this Friday 9 March. It features collaborations with Brian Eno, Sampha, Oneohtrix Point Never and Dev Hynes.
