David Byrne’s American Utopia live show gets a terrific screen iteration by Spike Lee

From crashing CBGBs in a preppy polo shirt to scoring MTV airplay with love songs about urban anomie, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has long pushed seemingly incompatible ideas to dizzying heights.

American Utopia, his 2019 Broadway show-cum-Spike Lee-directed concert movie, is no exception.

As the title suggests, it’s a response to life during Trump-time and a country wracked by bitter divisions, as well as a virtuosic musical exercise — moving between songs from the titular 2018 solo album, recent collaborations and Talking Heads favourites — that spotlights our common humanity.