David Byrne Announces Upcoming Album With Fatboy Slim

Posted on Dec 14th 2009 12:30PM by Mike Ayers
Comments

Get those dancing shoes ready: David Byrne announced a new two-disc, 22-song set entitled 'Here Lies Love' that's a collaboration with Fatboy Slim. The album presumably pairs musical beats and disco-inspired themes that Byrne and Slim worked on with numerous female guest vocalists, including Tori Amos, Sharon Jones, Florence Welch, St. Vincent, Cyndi Lauper, Santigold and Natalie Merchant. Byrne also duets with My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden on the track 'Seven Years' and contributes a solo vocal on 'American Troglodyte.' Aside from Byrne, the lone male vocalist is country-roots rocker Steve Earle, who sings on 'A Perfect Hand.'

A post on David Byrne's website describes the album as a theatrical piece that would work in a club setting. "The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person -- what makes them tick?" he wrote. "How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if -- as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music -- one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a 'story' and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn't that be amazing!"

At this point, we'll go ahead and say yes, this does sound amazing. Roping in a slew of talented vocalists and working with the guy that gave us 'The Rockafeller Skank' has to be great.

Byrne's latest release is 2008's 'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today,' which was also a collaboration with famed ambient pioneer/producer/writing partner Brian Eno. That said, Byrne's been very active this past year, writing books about bike riding, collaborating with the Dirty Projectors and touring the world over with a dance troupe as part of his backing band.