DAVID Byrne has received a warm reception from female fans after apologising for only working with male musicians on his forthcoming new album.
The American Utopia LP which is released on Friday is said to be the Dumbarton-born Talking Heads frontman’s first proper solo album in 14 years and features collaborations with Brian Eno, Jack Peñate, Mercury Prize winner Sampha and more.
But there was controversy when he recently shared a playlist detailing the many men that helped work on the LP. A blogpost highlighted contributions from 25 male collaborators.
Ahead of the album’s official release he passed comment on criticism that he did not collaborate with any female artists on the record saying: "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."
READ MORE: Review - American Utopia by David Byrne: the Edward Lear of pop returns
American Utopia, is his first LP since Love This Giant in 2012, a collaborative album with St Vincent aka Anne Clark, the American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
The most popular responses to the apology from female fans to his comments published on his Facebook page have been universally positive with many saying he should not have to explain himself.
In the response to a backlash over the blogpost, Byrne said that the gender disparity issue “matters a lot to me andadds that "this lack of representation is something that is widespread and problematic in our industry".
Byrne, now based in New York said: “I’d like to thank those of you who wrote for calling attention to this – this matters a lot to me."
He added: "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.
"I am happy that we live in a time that this conversation is happening. 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. 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."
The most popular response from female fans came from Gwen Hudson of Alabama who got 87 likes for saying: "For me personally the judgement of not including more women in everything is becoming ridiculous... and I’m a woman!
"David you don’t need to explain anything to this fan, why? Just that I’m a lifelong fan & I know your work and from your web page, your journal and your posts that you stand for all humanity to have equality."
Jolene McDonald added: It's great David responded to this, but he should not have to justify himself considering the amount of women he has collaborated with in the past and recent past. He should not have to apologise either when there was no wrong done in the first place. It's ridiculous. I do think there are women performers on this tour with him, as always."
And Amy Lewis added: "I am saddened one of the most brilliant and positive forces of our time needs his creativity and collaboration questioned."
Its collaborators include longtime creative sparring partner Brian Eno; British electronic producers Koreless, Jam City, Happa, Bullion and Airhead; acclaimed songwriters Sampha, Dev Hynes, Jack Peñate and Ariel Rechtshaid; jazz performer Isaiah Barr; and Daniel Lopatin, AKA producer Oneohtrix Point Never.
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