Psycho Killer is one of Talking Heads’ greatest songs. And despite being released absolutely ages ago, in 1977, the band has just pumped out a new music video for it.
The video stars Saoirse Ronan going about her fictional day while looking increasingly like she’s losing the plot. To the point where she ends up doing what looks like interpretative dance in an office building.
It’s a video that doesn’t feature the band members directly, and was directed by Mike Mills — the one who has directed various music videos and feature films, not the Mike Mills of R.E.M. fame.
The Psycho Killer music video has led to fan speculation the band, who split up in 1991, could be heading towards a reformation. Pure nonsense? Probably. But here are some tenuous reasons it might well be true...
1. It’s a very specific 50th anniversary
The Psycho Killer music video was made to commemorate an important Talking Head anniversary, and one entirely related to live performance. It was the 50th anniversary of the band’s first gig at New York’s CBGBs in 1975.
You can watch video of that very gig on YouTube, courtesy of PRX. We might typically expect the big anniversary of an album release to be celebrated, rather than a gig. And Talking Heads’ first album does not reach the 50th milestone for another couple of years, having been released in 1977. Commemorate a live gig to pave way for a return to live performance? It makes sense.
2. Director Mike Mills said we wants to direct a live music show
Psycho Killer music video director Mike Mills took part in an interview with GQ during which he said he would love to direct a stage performance of a big band or act. Y’know, like the kind Talking Heads might do if they reformed and put on a mini global tour. Lights, choreography, the whole lot.
“I want to do that. If someone's seeing this, I want that job,” Mills said to interviewer Chris Black, as they talked about the kind of production involved with a late-night TV show performance.
Talking Heads taking on a big musical performance on SNL? We can picture it.
3. David Byrne made a LEGO “battle bus” that… could be a tour bus
Get ready to hear the tenuous tendons ping on this one. Recently on Instagram, Talking Heads big man David Byrne posted one of his LEGO creations, one that looks like a tour bus spliced with a space craft.
“Battle bus” was the title Byrne gave to the creation. And while some of you may think of Fortnite when the subject of battle buses comes up, it’s also a term often used for big teams on tour — if more often political party groups rather than bands. But maybe Byrne was trying to throw us off the scent.
4. The video hit big on YouTube trending
One reason to release this new music video may be to gauge public interest in Talking Heads, who haven’t to our knowledge got together since 2023. That’s when a new version of the band’s classic Stop Making Sense was released.
At the time of writing, the music video has racked-up almost 400,000 watches, in less than 24 hours since its original posting. And made it into YouTube’s Trending chart. We count that as a win on the attention economy front, particularly for a band whose YouTube profile doesn’t remotely match the band’s wider influence — they have a so-so 280K followers and hadn’t posted a video in seven months before the music video landed.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
