David Byrne, photo by Jody Rogac

David Byrne is one of the most forward-thinking and progressive artists of his generation, but even he has room for improvement. Case in point: the former Talking Heads frontman has apologized for the lack of female contributors to his latest album, American Utopia.

“I’d like to thank those of you who wrote for calling attention to this — this matters a lot to me,” Byrne writes in a statement posted to social media on Monday. “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.



“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,” Byrne adds. “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.”

Due out this coming Friday, American Utopia boasts contributions from Brian Eno, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), Sampha, Jam City, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman), and Jack Peñate. You can stream it in full here.