David Byrne – Everyobody’s Coming to my House

Living legend returns after a long absence with a nervy post-punk classic worthy of his legacy

It has been fifteen years since David Byrne made a solo record, but he has not been idle, collaborating on other artist’s works and writing great books on how music works— something he knows a lot about. Even so, his presence was palpable as a whole generation of millennial musicians fashioned their sound after the glorious post-punk era of which he was a figurehead.

For his latest album, he enlisted longtime collaborator and fellow noize god Brian Eno, who provides “robot rhythm guitar” on this track. British neo-soul wonderboy Sampha provides backing vocals. But it is above all Byrne’s show, and would not have been out of place on any Talking Heads album.

Byrne sounds pretty positive here, imagining a party at his house where everybody would “never go back home”. But he is still typically nervous about it all, since “we’re only tourists in this life”, although, as he reassures (and himself) “the view is nice.” The music is adequately jittery, with Byrne’s trademark angular grooves and nervy bounce, and you can definitely dance to it like it was the early 1980s.

Be sure to check out this alternate version performed by the Detroit School of Arts, which transforms the track with more soul and light.