Forget about Madonna in “Evita”. No single musical project dedicated to telling the life story of a despot’s wife has featured as many stars as Fatboy Slim and David Byrne’s new concept album with accompanying book, DVD, and other materials, “Here Lies Love” (as least, none that we know of). The tale of Imelda Marcos’ rise to fame and power through her beauty and guile, “Here Lies” features the voices of Tori Amos, Nellie McKay, Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Jones, Róisín Murphy, and others singing on behalf of the imprisoned former “Steel Butterfly” the Philippines. As mad and cheery as Marcos’ legendary shoe collection, the first single and title track employs the booming tones of Florence Welch from Florence and The Machine to set the stage for what promises to be the best multimedia biography of a corrupt Asian sovereign this year (unless Jay-Z whips up a Hirohito tribute album).
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Above, clockwise from left: Imelda Marcos, David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Florence Welch.
Above: The “Here Lies Love” boxed set.
“Listen: David Byrne + Fatboy Slim + Florence of Florence and the Machine” [Pitchfork]