David Byrne and Hayley Williams ask "What Is The Reason For It?" in new single

Your wedding can also sound like the Talking Heads co-founder's with a newly shared playlist.

By Emma Keates | September 3, 2025 | 2:25pm

Screenshot: David Byrne/Hayley Williams/YouTube

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David Byrne and Hayley Williams ask a lot of questions in their new track, “What Is The Reason For It?” Together, they sing, “Does it do something useful? What is it for? Is everyone else the same as me?” Who knows. One thing that’s not up for debate? How fun and fruitful this partnership continues to be. Williams and Byrne first met around the time A24 re-rerelased Talking Heads’ seminal concert film Stop Making Sense in 2023. Williams’ band Paramore was one of several artists to cover a Talking Heads song for the studio’s companion album, Everyone’s Getting Involved. (You can listen to their lively version of “Burning Down The House” here.) Soon after, Byrne reciprocated by covering Paramore’s After Laughter track “Hard Times,” and a new friendship was formed. Speaking with People about “What Is The Reason For It?,” which will appear on his forthcoming album Who Is The Sky?, Byrne said the following: “I knew that [Williams] was in town, so I just texted her and said, ‘Do you want to come by and sing on this?’ And she said yes… And she killed it.”

The song itself is a mariachi-infused bop with a video featuring Byrne’s own drawings to boot. Check it out below:

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This is a pretty once in a lifetime week for Byrne. His album—which also features contributions from St. Vincent and Tom Skinner of The Smile—comes out this Friday. He also announced on his Instagram story that he was getting married to his partner Mala Gaonkar. It’s been less than three weeks since the couple shared the news of their engagement. “I’m getting married this week and made an almost entirely instrumental playlist while our guests eat an amazing and spicy dinner,” he wrote alongside links to said playlist on Apple Music, Spotify, and Mixcloud. “My sense is that words and lyrics can be distracting—the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows. So, I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere… and that folks can also ignore at the same time.” That would imply that Byrne doesn’t think many people know Post Malone’s “Wow.,” a non-instrumental song with over 1.8 billion Spotify streams that’s currently on the list. The track’s inclusion was almost definitely a mistake, but it’s still pretty funny to imagine it popping up while Byrne’s guests eat their spicy dinner. Or maybe it was a bit of subtle outreach from the musician to forge another partnership with a buzzy young star. Only Byrne knows what is the reason for it.