Album review: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, 'Here Lies Love'
Rating: 2 stars (out of 4)
So what’s David Byrne up to now? Would you believe trying to put himself in Imelda Marcos’ shoes --- all 2,700 of them?
The former Philippine empress is best known for the mind-boggling collection of footwear she left behind when her husband, dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was deposed in 1986. Byrne tries to go deeper, to explore the psyche of a ruthless social-climber who went from rags to riches to disgraced exile. He spent five years researching her life and writing songs in collaboration with Fatboy Slim, the British DJ chosen because of Marcos’ affinity for disco (she even had a dancefloor with mirror balls installed at her palace).
Though Byrne deserves praise for his ceaseless curiosity – and “Here Lies Love: A Song Cycle About Imelda Marcos & Estrella Cumpas” (TodoMundo/Nonesuch) is nothing if not curious – the new work misfires. It too often plays like a dance-music version of “Evita,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about another despot’s feisty wife. Byrne’s musical isn’t nearly as melodramatic as Lloyd Webber’s, but it still bogs down in Broadway cliches.
So what’s David Byrne up to now? Would you believe trying to put himself in Imelda Marcos’ shoes --- all 2,700 of them?
The former Philippine empress is best known for the mind-boggling collection of footwear she left behind when her husband, dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was deposed in 1986. Byrne tries to go deeper, to explore the psyche of a ruthless social-climber who went from rags to riches to disgraced exile. He spent five years researching her life and writing songs in collaboration with Fatboy Slim, the British DJ chosen because of Marcos’ affinity for disco (she even had a dancefloor with mirror balls installed at her palace).
Though Byrne deserves praise for his ceaseless curiosity – and “Here Lies Love: A Song Cycle About Imelda Marcos & Estrella Cumpas” (TodoMundo/Nonesuch) is nothing if not curious – the new work misfires. It too often plays like a dance-music version of “Evita,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about another despot’s feisty wife. Byrne’s musical isn’t nearly as melodramatic as Lloyd Webber’s, but it still bogs down in Broadway cliches.
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