David Byrne Releases 3rd Single, The Avant Garde

On August 13, David Byrne released "The Avant Garde", the third single from his upcoming album Who Is The Sky?. The first single, "Everybody Laughs", was released alongside the album announcement on June 10, and the second single, "She Explains Things to Me", was released on July 16. This may be the final single, with three weeks remaining until the album's September 5 release date. Following this third single, nine unreleased songs remain out of the album's twelve tracks — unless you count the short bonus track "DefCon" that appears on some versions.

Like "Everybody Laughs", this song was arranged by Curtis Hasselbring, and like the rest of Who Is The Sky?, it was produced by Kid Harpoon and features Ghost Train Orchestra.

David Byrne described the background for this song:

"Some people will hear this and say, 'David is calling bullshit on his friends,' but it's more nuanced than that. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to plenty of shows that might be classified as avant-garde or experimental. Edgy and untraditional work is hugely inspiring to me, as it often changes the way I think and influences what I do (without me simply appropriating the ideas, I hope). That said, trying something unproven and radically new is risky. Sometimes, as with anything risky, it doesn't quite hit the bullseye. There's no guarantee that it will achieve what it aims to do, but when it does, the emotional and intellectual rewards are worth it. That is the risk one takes while making something new and unconventional. So yes, there are times when it doesn't mean shit, but often there are times when something wholly original comes into being and it's all worth it. I love that the Ghost Train folks and Kid Harpoon took what could have been a fairly conventional song I'd written (musically at least), and steered it into something that to me sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Dirty Projectors."

Just like the previous single, a lyric video was created by Shira Inbar, the lead designer for Who Is The Sky? visuals.