OnLine Magazine

Here Lies Love by David Byrne & Fat Boy Slim

Not many would have the cojones to attempt a 22-song disco opera about the lives of Philippines’ controversial First Lady, Imelda Marcos and her family caretaker, Estrella Cumpas. But David Byrne has the socio-political conscience, universal perspective and the intellectual creativity to handle such an album.

His key collaborator is Fatboy Slim – an artist known for his mainstream popularity in the electronic dance genre, and the weakest link on this album. Too frequently, his inclusion of clichéd production tricks like dated filter sweeps, bubbling 303s and basic straight-off-the vinyl percussion loops, steers away from the essence of the record.

Other collaborators like Tori Amos, Candie Payne and Alison Moorer also fail to impress with their delivery style lacking the literal, show-tune lyrics required to drive the plot. Additionally, the repeated shifts in tone and multitude of voices only confuse the listener with the twin narratives of Marcos and Cumpas, making the story difficult to follow and almost impossible to emotionally invest in the characters.

Here Lies Love does have some bright moments with Roisin Murphy’s take on Don’t You Agree?, Santi White’s Please Don’t, Martha Wainwright’s The Rose of Tacloban, Cyndi Lauper’s classic –rock sound for Eleven Days and an arresting vocal from Shara Worden in Seven Years. Byrne’s distinguished vocals on American Troglodyte about the contradictions of Modern America, is the shining light of the record and even surpasses the smooth vocals of Steve Earl’s A Perfect Hand.

Unfortunately, the mid-tempo and light ballads in this album make it an arduous listen. The scale and boldness of Byrne’s ambition is commendable but as an album, Here Lies Love fails to deliver.