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David Byrne & Fatboy Slim : Here Lies Love

Nonesuch/Todo Mondo

In Here Lies Love, David Byrne has produced a thorny masterpiece. The two-disc set succeeds in its singular ambition: to be a compassionate and creative disco-oriented song cycle about the relationship between Imelda Marcos, the infamous Filipino first lady, and Estrella Cumpas, her caretaker. That Byrne employs 20 contemporary female voices, from smart-pop sensation Santigold to melodramatic chanteuse Tori Amos, to realize his historical narratives is an inspired call—ditto for Steve Earle’s turn as hubby Ferdinand. But, despite co-producer Fatboy Slim’s beats, Here Lies Love lacks actual pop. Some tunes, like The B-52s’ Kate Pierson’s “The Whole Man” and Martha Wainwright’s cinematically Disneyfied anthem, “The Rose of Tacloban,” manage to be fun. But the chintzy disco production and lo-fi packaging don’t make Here Lie Love attractive, they make it a period piece. Unlike Imelda, it richly rewards attention; the love still might be hard to come by.