David Byrne reveals he’s getting married this week

David Byrne, 73, is marrying financier Mala Gaonkar this week. Photo / Getty Images

David Byrne is getting married this week.

The 73-year-old musician recently let slip he had got engaged to financier Mala Gaonkar and he’s now shared a 42-track playlist of instrumental songs that will be played in the background during their wedding celebrations in coming days.

Sharing a link to the Apple Music playlist, Byrne wrote on his Instagram Story: “I’m getting married this week and made an almost entirely instrumental playlist while our guests eat an amazing and spicy dinner.

“My sense is that words and lyrics can be distracting – the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows. So, I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere… and that folks can also ignore at the same time.”

The playlist includes tracks by Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno’s An Ending (Ascent) and an instrumental version of Wow by Post Malone, as well as Latin songs by the likes of the Mexican Institute of Sound, Son Rompe Pera, El Alfa, Café Tacvba and the Meridian Brothers.

The former Talking Heads singer revealed he and Mala were engaged while discussing the song Moisturizing Things from his upcoming solo album Who Is The Sky?

He told The Times newspaper: “My fiancée will sometimes come at me with greasy hands, ready to smear my face.

“And at one point I thought, ‘What if I wake up and really looked younger?’

“But there’s a message, too. About how people judge us by the way we look. You learn a lesson you didn’t expect at the start.”

The Once in a Lifetime singer believes he has changed over the years and is a lot more “socially comfortable” than he used to be.

He said: “Well, I am quite a bit more socially comfortable than I was.

“I do think music really helped. It’s a cliché, but music is cathartic.

“And it’s also about getting older. Because you can change with time.

“I have friends who’ve told me, ‘David, some things that you did were ridiculous.’ I’d invite people over to my house and then go and hide. I don’t do that any more.”

David feels he has “failed” as a songwriter if people misunderstand his lyrics.

Asked if it is annoying when people don’t realise what he is singing about, he said: “Well, I cannot help but think I have failed, because I wasn’t able to communicate what I thought I was.”