Here Lies Love, David Byrne's song-cycle collaboration with Fatboy Slim and a host of guest vocalists examining the life of Imelda Marcos, was released yesterday on Todomundo / Nonesuch Records. It's the Album of the Day on BBC Radio 6 Music, so tune in throughout the day to hear tracks from Here Lies Love on each of the station's programs.

Byrne recently stopped by the studios of the BBC World Service to discuss the new album with The Strand's Mark Coles. "It's marvelous," Coles exclaims. "It's wonderful." It opens yesterday's episode of the radio program, which you can hear now at bbc.co.uk. You can also watch a video of the interview inside the studio here.

Byrne also appeared on the BBC Radio 2 show Steve Wright in the Afternoon to discuss Here Lies Love. You can listen online and hear the album track "Eleven Days," featuring vocals by Cindi Lauper, also at bbc.co.uk. The segment begins at about two hours and 30 minutes in.

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Newsday gives the album an A-. "It's an amazing piece of work," says reviewer Glenn Gamboa. And "when Byrne and his team get everything right," Gamboa asserts, "Here Lies Love is a thrilling success."

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The Associated Press calls it "a magnificent sonic treat." Reviewer Ryan McLendon says that all involved "deliver an epic, thrilling tale brimming with hair-raising harmonies, sumptuous beats and unexpected duets." McLendon goes on to praise the pairing of performer to song, writing: "Each track seems catered to and inspired by each guest artist and demands a strong performance in return." He concludes: "You don't need to know the tale of this fallen shoe maven to love the tracks she inspired." Read the complete AP review via the San Francisco Examiner at sfexaminer.com.

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Rolling Stone might concur on how best to enjoy the album. "Dig into that heady stuff if you like," says reveiwer Jody Rosen, "or just surrender to the inexorable beats." The Huffington Post's Shawn Amos, in his "Play or Skip" look at the week's new music, recommends you play this one. "It's the most fun you'll have on the dance floor singing about an exiled, corrupt leader," he quips. "Who said politics wasn't fun?" New York Daily News reviewer Jim Farber adds a different spin by saying: "Many of the songs show the influence of Byrne's longtime love of Latin music, but it's their sweet melodies that really entice."

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PopMatters agrees that there is more than one way to appreciate the album. Reviewer Mike Schiller says that, given how "ear-pleasing" the tunes are, audiences may be lured into experiencing the music just at the surface. But delve deeper into the story as laid out in the deluxe version's 120-page booklet, "and you will be rewarded," says Schiller. "Byrne has coaxed expert performances out of nearly all of his collaborators ... [A] close listen reveals just how perfect so many of these similarly-voiced singers are for the parts they are playing at any given time." The reviewer concludes: "It's not often that a purely musical work can make us see a historical figure in a new light, but Here Lies Love is a fascinating exception." Read more at popmatters.com.

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Back in the UK, the Daily Express gives the album four stars, calling it "excitingly original!" The Daily Mirror gives it four stars as well. Mirror reviewer Gavin Martin sees the project as proof of good things still possible in the full-length format. "As long as inventive, thoughtfully generous souls such as David Byrne are at the controls," says Martin, "rumours about the death of the album will remain greatly exaggerated." As Byrne tells Marcos's tale, "the vivid picture brought to life by musical detail is matched by the likes of Florence Welch, Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper and French wunderkind Camille." Read more at mirror.co.uk.