David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Here Lies Love (2010)

“Here Lies Love” is a concept album made in collaboration between David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos along with the woman who raised her Estrella Cumpas and follows Marcos until she and her family were forced to leave the Philippines. The album features 22 guest vocalists and was released on April 6, 2010.
“Here Lies Love” is primarily a great pop record featuring a bevy of name female vocalists. Grand conceptual themes aside, Byrne, Slim, and Slim cohort Tom Gandey (aka Cagedbaby) have delivered a kooky, fun, theatrical, and more often than not deliriously listenable collection of '70s and '80s club pop. Inspired by a disparate set of sources, not the least of which included his reading of Ryszard Kapuscinski's book The Emperor as well as various reports detailing the former First Lady of the Philippines' penchant for disco and club life, Byrne formulated this would-be stage production based around the notion -- as he says in the liner notes of the "bubble worlds of the rich and powerful" set to the popular sounds (disco, soul, Latin beats, cabaret) of Marcos' time in power. While there is no dialogue in this production, Byrne has crafted each track throughout the album to tell the story and evoke the emotional state of Marcos and her longtime nanny Cumpas' emotional state. And while the story hangs together quite well, the main impression you are left with is that Byrne and Slim have impeccable taste in female singers. Here we get British songstress Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) delivering the title prologue track, an anthemic disco-inflected number that recalls any number of Studio 54 diva hits. Similarly, Tori Amos takes on the role of Marcos' mother, Remedios, on the eerie flamenco-infused "You'll Be Taken Care Of." Along the way you get '80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper, alt-country-rocker Allison Moorer, Irish soul siren Roisin Murphy, Philly punk-dance singer Santigold, Natalie Merchant, Nellie McKay, Martha Wainwright, Sharon Jones, and others.


Disc one
01. "Here Lies Love"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 5:52
02. "Every Drop Of Rain"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 5:34
03. "You'll Be Taken Care Of"  (David Byrne)  - 3:20
04. "The Rose of Tacloban"  (David Byrne)  - 2:33
05. "How Are You?"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 2:43
06. "A Perfect Hand"  (David Byrne)  - 4:58
07. "Eleven Days"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 2:44
08. "When She Passed By"  (David Byrne and Tom Gandey)  - 3:50
09. "Walk Like a Woman"  (David Byrne)  - 3:59
10. "Don't You Agree?"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 3:20
11. "Pretty Face"  (David Byrne)  - 3:23
12. "Ladies in Blue"  (David Byrne)  - 4:21

Disc two
01. "Dancing Together"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 3:53
02. "Men Will Do Anything"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 4:06
03. "The Whole Man"  (David Byrne)  - 4:15
04. "Never So Big"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 4:00
05. "Please Don't"  (David Byrne)  - 3:59
06. "American Troglodyte"  (David Byrne, Norman Cook, and José Luis "Cheo" Pardo)  - 4:07
07. "Solano Avenue"  (David Byrne and Norman Cook)  - 3:56
08. "Order 1081"  (David Byrne)  - 5:47
09. "Seven Years"  (David Byrne)  - 5:40
10. "Why Don't You Love Me?"  (David Byrne and Tom Gandey)  - 3:58

Credits
David Byrne – composition, instrumentation, and vocals
Fatboy Slim – composition and instrumentation
Tori Amos – vocals on "You'll Be Taken Care Of" and "Why Don't You Love Me?"
Theresa Andersson – vocals on "Ladies in Blue"
Nicole Atkins – vocals on "Solano Avenue"
Camille – vocals on "Pretty Face" (as Imelda Marcos)
Charmaine Clamor – vocals on "Walk Like a Woman"
Steve Earle – vocals on "A Perfect Hand"
Sia – vocals on "Never So Big"
Cyndi Lauper – vocals on "Eleven Days" and "Why Don't You Love Me?"
Nellie McKay – vocals on "How Are You?"
Allison Moorer – vocals on "When She Passed By"
Sharon Jones – vocals on "Dancing Together"
Natalie Merchant – vocals on "Order 1081"
Róisín Murphy – vocals on "Don't You Agree?"
Candie Payne – vocals on "Every Drop of Rain"
Kate Pierson – vocals on "The Whole Man"
Alice Russell – vocals on "Men Will Do Anything"
St. Vincent – vocals on "Every Drop of Rain"
Santigold – vocals on "Please Don't"
Martha Wainwright – vocals on "The Rose of Tacloban"
Florence Welch – vocals on "Here Lies Love"
Shara Worden – vocals on "Seven Years"
Mastered By – Greg Calbi
Mixed By – Patrick Dillett
Producer(s) - David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Cagedbaby, Patrick Dillett and Los Amigos Invisibles

Notes
All songs mixed at Kampo Studios, NYC.
All songs mastered at Sterling sound, NYC.
Recorded at South Hell Studios, New York City, New York, United States
Genre: Alternative Rock, Art Rock
Duration Time: 90:06
© 2010 Todomundo/Nonesuch Records