David Byrne & Fatboy Slim’s acclaimed 2010 album Here Lies Love receives its first vinyl release on August 11, 2023, to coincide with the new musical’s Broadway debut, in a production opening tonight, July 20, at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. You can pre-order the vinyl here. Here Lies Love is a double-disc song cycle about the rise and fall of the Philippines’ notorious Imelda Marcos and the People Power Revolution. The album was conceived by David Byrne; composed by Byrne and DJ/recording artist Fatboy Slim, AKA Norman Cook; and performed by a dream cast drawn from the worlds of indie rock, alt country, R&B, and pop, including Florence Welch, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Earle, Sharon Jones, Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Kate Pierson, St. Vincent, My Brightest Diamond, Nellie McKay, Martha Wainwright, Róisín Murphy, and Santigold. Byrne himself appears as the voice of imperialistic America on “American Troglodyte.”

Byrne created Here Lies Love as a musical theater piece, to be mounted in disco and nightclub settings, reflecting the globe-trotting Marcos’ taste for such velvet-roped spots as Studio 54 and Regine’s. In 2006, he performed the work-in-progress versions to enthusiastic audiences at New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Adelaide Festival in Australia before releasing this recording. Before its current Broadway incarnation, an award-winning theatrical production eventually premiered at The Public Theater in New York in 2013—the original cast recording of which was released on Nonesuch in 2014. The show then travelled to London’s National Theater for a sold-out run from 2014–15 and was remounted at the Seattle Repertory Theater in 2017.

Here Lies Love’s sunny arrangements act in counterpoint to the reality of the Marcos’ increasingly repressive regime, reflecting the imagined inner life of the glamour-obsessed Imelda. Byrne explains, “For me, the darker side of the excesses are, for the most part, a matter of record. A lot of the audience is going to come with that knowledge already. What’s more of a challenge is to get inside the head of the person who was behind all of that and understand what made them tick.”

Many of Byrne’s lyrics are constructed from actual Imelda quotes, including the project’s title, the words that Imelda, now returned to the Philippines from US-assisted exile in Hawaii, would like to have inscribed on her gravestone. In addition to a newly written liner note, this new release of the album includes Byrne’s illustrations of the story via archival photos. In a detailed preface, he reveals what drew him to this subject and the bumpy route he took to launch the project and, ultimately, record this album.

The new production of Here Lies Love began previews at the Broadway Theatre in New York City in June, ahead of an official opening night tonight, July 20. Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (developed and directed by) and Olivier Award nominee Annie-B Parson (choreography) reunite with Byrne (concept, music, and lyrics) and Fatboy Slim (music) to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway, continuing a ten-plus year collaboration on the project. Tom Gandey and J Pardo contribute additional music. Here Lies Love is produced on Broadway by Hal Luftig, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna for Plate Spinner Productions, Clint Ramos, and Jose Antonio Vargas. The staging at the Broadway Theatre transforms the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space into a dance club environment, where audiences will stand and move with the actors. A wide variety of standing and seating options are available throughout the theater’s reconstructed space. The producers of Here Lies Love said, “As a team of binational American producers—Filipinos among us—we are thrilled to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway. We welcome everyone to experience this singularly exuberant piece of theater. The history of the Philippines is inseparable from the history of the United States, and as both evolve, we cannot think of a more appropriate time to stage this show. See you on the dance floor!”

David Byrne’s recent works include Theater of the Mind, a collaboration with Mala Gaonkar in Denver that was featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes. He also performed Academy Award-nominated song from Everything Everywhere All at Once on the Oscars earlier this year. Additional recent work includes the acclaimed and highly popular Broadway musical David Byrne’s American Utopia as well as the HBO film of the show, directed by Spike Lee; the launch of Reasons to be Cheerful, an online magazine focused on solutions-oriented stories about problems being solved all over the world (2019); Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, a theatrical exploration of the historical heroine that premiered at The Public Theater in New York (2017); The Institute Presents: NEUROSOCIETY, a series of interactive environments created in conjunction with PACE Arts + Technology that question human perception and bias (2016); Contemporary Color, an event inspired by the American folk tradition of color guard and performed at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre (2015); Love This Giant, a studio album and worldwide tour created with St. Vincent (2012); and How Music Works, a book about the history, experience, and social aspects of music (2012).

Byrne curated Southbank Centre’s annual Meltdown festival in London in 2015. A co-founder of the group Talking Heads (1976–88), he has released eight studio albums as a solo artist and worked on multiple other projects, including collaborations with Brian Eno, Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, and Jonathan Demme, among others. He also founded the highly respected record label Luaka Bop. Recognition of Byrne’s various works include Obies, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Evening Standard awards for Here Lies Love; an Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor; and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Talking Heads. Byrne’s work as a visual artist has been published and exhibited since his college days, including photography, filmmaking, and writing. He lives in New York City.

In addition to 2019’s cast album for American Utopia on Broadway, Nonesuch has released eight other David Byrne records since 2003, including 2018’s American Utopia studio album and the two versions of Here Lies Love.

DAVID BYRNE & FATBOY SLIM: HERE LIES LOVE

Disc 1: Side A

1. Here Lies Love – vocal by Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine)
2. Every Drop of Rain – vocal by Candie Payne & St. Vincent
3. You’ll Be Taken Care Of – vocal by Tori Amos
4. The Rose of Tacloban – vocal by Martha Wainwright
5. A Perfect Hand – vocal by Steve Earle

Disc 1: Side B

1. Eleven Days – vocal by Cyndi Lauper
2. When She Passed By – vocal by Allison Moorer
3. Walk Like a Woman – vocal by Charmaine Clamor
4. Don’t You Agree? – vocal by Róisín Murphy
5. Pretty Face – vocal by Camille
6. Ladies in Blue – vocal by Theresa Andersson

Disc 2: Side A

1. Dancing Together – vocal by Sharon Jones
2. How Are You? – vocal by Nellie McKay
3. Men Will Do Anything – vocal by Alice Russell
4. The Whole Man – vocal by Kate Pierson
5. Never So Big – vocal by Sia
6. Please Don’t – vocal by Santi White [Santigold]

Disc 2: Side B

1. American Troglodyte – vocal by David Byrne
2. Solano Avenue – vocal by Nicole Atkins
3. Order 1081 – vocal by Natalie Merchant
4. Seven Years – vocal by Shara Nova (My Brightest Diamond)
5. Why Don’t You Love Me? – vocal by Tori Amos & Cyndi Lauper