Talking Heads announce New Feeling, their first authorized book as a full band, due 18 May 2027

Talking Heads have announced Talking Heads: New Feeling, a large-format book that the band describes as its first authorized book made together by all four members. It is due from Abrams Books on 18 May 2027, and pre-orders are open.

The date is no accident. Talking Heads: 77, the New York band's debut album, turns 50 in 2027, and the book is pitched as the anniversary's centrepiece.

What is in it

New Feeling is a coffee-table volume of roughly 400 pages built from the band's own archive: hundreds of photographs, handwritten lyrics, early artwork and original essays from David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison. Handwritten pages for "Psycho Killer" and "Life During Wartime" are among the items promised. The story runs from the band's beginnings at the Rhode Island School of Design, through the CBGB scene in downtown New York, to worldwide success and the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense.

Harrison has said the team worked with items that had not been touched in more than 40 years.

Editions and prices

• Standard hardcover: $65
• Collector's edition: $150, in a deluxe box with a 19-piece wooden puzzle built into the cover
• Limited edition: $350, with the puzzle and box plus a Mick Rock photograph signed by all four members

Why it matters

For anyone meeting the band for the first time: Talking Heads were one of the defining art-rock groups to come out of late-1970s New York, with songs like "Once in a Lifetime" and "Burning Down the House" and one of the most celebrated concert films ever made. The members have had a famously difficult relationship over the years, which is why a book with all four on board stands out.

This is a book, not a reunion tour or a new record. The band has not announced any new music, though the four have appeared together more often since the 2023 restoration of Stop Making Sense.

Pre-orders and edition details are on the publisher's site at abramsbooks.com.