David Byrne - Grown Backwards

Having worked in new wave and electronic music and dabbled in salsa and samba, Byrne was bound to try his hand at serious opera. Here, the former Talking Head tackles “Un di Felice” from Verdi’s La traviata and teams up with Rufus Wainwright on “Au Fond du Temple Saint” from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. The classical strains of the Tosca Strings can be heard throughout. But the eclectic artist’s humorous side is also evident on tracks like “She Only Sleeps,” about a man’s unflinching faith in his disastrous girlfriend.