Recommendations of the Editorial team
Wedding bells for David Byrne: On Monday, the former talking heads front man announced that he will close the covenant of marriage this week-just a few weeks after his engagement announced with Mala Gaonkar. At the same time, he presented a playlist with instrumental music to run at the wedding dinner.
Playlist with a Latin American focus
“I’m getting married this week and have put together an almost exclusively instrumental playlist that runs during the great, spicy meal of our guests,” wrote Byrne on Instagram And shared an Apple Music link. “My impression is that words and texts distract – the ear hangs on it, especially if you know the song.”
“So I chose lively instrumentals that create a hopeful and joyful mood … and which can also be ignored at the same time,” added Byrne.
The list comprises 42 songs, with a focus on Latin American music, including “Pa Japón” by El Alfa, “Perfidia” by Café Tacvba, “Chimborazo” and “Luz de Luna” by the Marimba-Punk band Son Rompe Pera, “Canales” from the Mexican Institute of Sound and “En El Caribe Estoy Triste” by Meridian Brothers.
Pieces by Herbie Hancock are also represented, plus an instrumental version of Post Malone’s “Wow” and Brian Enos “An Ending (Ascent)”.
Engagement and collaboration with Gaonkar
Byrne announced his engagement with Gaonkar in an interview with “The Times”, in connection with the song “Moisturizing Things” from his upcoming album. “My fiancee sometimes comes up to me with oily hands to smoke my face. At some point, I thought: ‘What if I look really younger one day?'” Said the musician. “But there is also a message in it: how people tell us according to the exterior. You learn a lesson that you don’t expect at the beginning.”
Byrne and Gaonkar first worked for a theater production at the Stanford Arts Institute in 2016 and once again found a stage project together in 2022. Since then they have performed together at numerous events, including the Oscars 2023 and the premiere of “Dune: Part Two”.
New album shortly before publication
The playlist and the wedding announcement come just a few days before the release of his new album “Who is the Sky?” With the Ghost Train Orchestra.
Byrne told the Rolling Stone that the title is based on a misunderstood voice-to-text command. “Actually there should be: ‘Who is this guy?’ – But the algorithm has ‘who is the sky?’ made of it. Of course I knew what was originally meant, but I decided: that would come to the list of possible album titles. ”