David Byrne on Imelda Marcos-Inspired 'Here Lies Love': 'It Could Be The New Evita'

David Byrne's latest project 'Here Lies Love' is a "song cycle" of 22 songs about the upbringing and life of the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. 'Here Lies Love' is a disco opera with such artists as Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, Natalie Merchant and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine lending their vocal talents.

Byrne of the now-defunct band Talking Heads, and owner of two indie music labels, talked with The Times Online about this project which has taken him five years to complete. "Why am I interested in this? Why do a series of songs about Imelda Marcos?" Good questions, surely. "Before I got into this I had the same opinion of her and her husband as everybody else. They were monsters, despicable really, though she was sometimes amusing for her outrageous behaviour. I was appalled that you'd see her in the gossips with the Shah of Iran. Then I found there was another side to it, but I'm not apologising for all that other stuff..."

Marcos is infamously known for her staggering collection of shoes and her flamboyant spending habits, but Byrne's work does not make reference to it. "The shoes were a very big problem," Byrne says in the Times Online article. "For me it became, how do you get beyond the shoes? But the shoes weren't discovered, along with the house full of Heinz Sandwich Spread, until after the Marcoses were airlifted out of the palace in 1986, and for me the story ends right there."

"I guess I liked her extreme feistiness. And she was tough-smart. Especially after she took over the running of Manila. For me the question was, should I celebrate someone who's worthy instead of someone who's really not? That's a tough one because it's always harder to write about a good person."

Songs from 'Here Lies Love' have been performed at various arts festivals, but Byrne is setting his sights higher - if he is able to secure financial backing, a musical may be in the works, "I think Here Lies Love could be the new Evita." Byrne says.

The album is expected to be released on April 6, 2010 under Nonesuch Records and Todomundo

To read the rest of the story in the Times Online, click here.