David Bowie’s acclaimed 24th album The Next Day marked the first new material from the Thin White Duke in ten years. In November, we’ll have a chance to take in Bowie’s collaboration with the British crime series The Last Panthers. The artist wrote and recorded the title track. “The piece of music he laid before us embodied every aspect of our characters and the series itself — dark, brooding, beautiful and sentimental (in the best possible incarnation of this word),” said director Johan Renck. “All along, the man inspired and intrigued me and as the process passed, I was overwhelmed with his generosity.” But lucky for us, that track will also be heading Bowie’s upcoming album Blackstar, set to release on January 8, 2016 according to the Times of London , also reported by Pitchfork and David Bowie News.
The Times describes Blackstar as “an album of long, jazzy jams mixed with the kind of driving beat pioneered by Seventies German bands Can and Kraftwerk.” They add, “Blackstar may be the oddest work yet from [Bowie].” There are only seven songs on the 45-minute album. The single Blackstar is ten minutes long and will see a release on November 17. Blackstar was recorded at the Magic Shop Studio in New York with local jazz musicians. The title track contains “Gregorian chants, a soul section, various electronic beats and bleeps and Bowie’s distinctive vocals,” according to one “Bowie insider.”
There are no official announcements on the artist’s website and Facebook page, so take that for what you will. Listen to an excerpt of Bowie’s latest in the Last Panthers trailer, below.
Update DavidBowie.com offers the following updates and corrections about the new album Blackstar:
“It can now be confirmed that ‘Blackstar’ is the forthcoming single and album from David Bowie. Contrary to inaccurate reporting on the sound and content of the album, only the following can be confirmed: The single will be released on November 20th and is not part of David’s theatre piece ‘Lazarus’. The album will be released on David’s birthday, January 8th 2016.”
Photo via SPIN