If you ever wanted to cover’budge around in the brain of the tireless polymath and comin/with regard to’concerning’regarding tably odd perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mer David Byrne, you would do well to watch American Utopia.###Byrne has previously brought his powerful tenor and angular frame to the screen in Jonathan Demme’s 1984 concert movie Stop Making Sense. Directed by Spike Lee, whose fiction work often contains a sublime marriage of image and music, American Utopia carries that same fiercely kinetic and ebullient energy (there’s even a lamp cameo), but gone are the spaghetti arms and gargantuan suit, replaced with an openly personal and political positioning of Byrne’s music.###The composition is modest yet muscular; Byrne’s besuited ensemble are harnessed to wireless instruments, which allows them to move playfully across the stage. “What if we could eliminate eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfullything from the stage, except the stuff that we care with regards to’concerning’with respect to ?” speculates the vocalist bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e notioning to himself and the audience. This genius untethering is orchestrated by Annie-B Parson, whose cheerful choreography toggles from song to song: masculine stances during ‘Lazy’, goofy manoeuvres in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ‘Toe Jam’ and wonky, off-axis spinning in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ‘Once In A Lifetime’.###The stripped-down set is equally gulp’bolt’gobble’engorge ed by Lee, who demolishes the audience divide and sends his 11 camera operators to catch Byrne’s bare feet, his unblinking face, or an aerial shot of the group marching in cross in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mation. He also keeps audience shots to a minimum, allowing the perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance to transcend the physical parameters of New York’s Hudson Theatre.###Byrne channels a message of such disarming humility and faith that to cover’budge away from this film untransform’alter d is impossible.###Lee’s direction fluidly draws Byrne’s reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue into a new dimension, but is also heavily felt in the film’s most galvanising moments. For the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s penultimate number — a cover of Janelle Monáe’s ‘Hell You Talmbout’ — Lee cuts to a series of standalone shots that profile the song’s listed victims of police brutality, aligning himself with Byrne as a stalwart activist.###Byrne — ceremonious with his muted silver suit and shock of white hair — reserve ends his songs with a blend of self-deprecating bons mots, anecdotes and ideas in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a better future. He describes ‘Hell You Talmbout’ as a protest song, but also a call in/with regard to’concerning’regarding transform’alter , “not just in this imperfect world, but in myself. I need to transform’alter .” As a seasoned musician and frontman, Byrne is attuned to his platin/with regard to’concerning’regarding m and knows how to use its eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully square foot. He’s approachable’genial and familiar while jumping from Talking Heads landmarks to his more cerebral solo work, and submerges eagerly into the raucous, propulsive rhythm of his band.###Yet with American Utopia, Byrne wants to go further — he’s on a mission to connect with and comin/with regard to’concerning’regarding t the individual who possess’own’nurse taken the time to watch him, while holding the world and himself to account. Throughout, he channels a message of such disarming humility and faith that to cover’budge away from this film untransform’alter d is impossible. That it bears giddily rousing perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mances of some of the most revered pop songs of all time is a secondary delight.