Photo by Jody Rogac

By David Knight

The American Utopia tour will see Byrne perform in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast this November as well as three shows in New Zealand.

As leader of Talking Heads, the four-piece went from new wave favourites to post punk innovators as they pushed their sound — with producer Brian Eno — with Afro-beat, gospel and funk influences. The legacy of the New York band has been celebrated recently with Speaking in Tongues’ 35th anniversary while West African artist Angelique Kidjo reinterpreted the Afro-beat influenced Talking Heads classic Remain in Light by essentially taking the record back to Africa.

The Talking Heads disbanded in 1991 but Byrne carved a rich and experimental solo career outside of the four-piece composing albums that experimented with jazz, modern classical and alternative rock. His latest album American Utopia was released earlier this year to positive notices. Q Magazine wrote that Byrne’s “creative fires still showing no signs of dimming” as he “remains as playful and brilliant as ever” in a four-star review of the album.

Byrne’s Australian concert tour will see the music icon joined by a 12-piece band to perform songs from Talking Heads’ back-catalogue including Once in a Lifetime and This Must be the Place (Naïve Melody), his solo work and collaborations with artists such as St Vincent. The concerts are choreographed by Annie-B Parson.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, June 18 through ticketek.