David Bowie Set to Release 'Blackstar' Album

Photo: Jimmy King

BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 24, 2015

David Bowie has retired from touring, but evidently the iconic glam rocker isn't done releasing studio albums just yet. Reports suggest that Bowie has a new album coming out in the new year.

According to the Times of London, the album is called Blackstar and it will come out on Bowie's 69th birthday, January 8. Sessions reportedly took place at New York, NY's Magic Shop studio, with Bowie backed by local jazz musicians.

The Times says that this "may well be the oddest work yet" from the singer, as the album is made up of seven long, jazzy songs that feature "the kind of driving beat pioneered by Seventies German bands Can and Kraftwerk." The artwork for the album reportedly features colourful shots of a youthful-looking Bowie.

Blackstar's title track serves as the theme song for the British gangster series The Last Panthers. Hear a minute-long snippet of that track below. The full song will apparently arrive on November 19.

UPDATE (10/26, 12 p.m.): A spokesperson for David Bowie has confirmed the Blackstar album to NME. According to the rep, the LP will indeed arrive on January 8, with a single to come in November. However, Bowie's camp cited the "inaccurate reporting on the sound and content of the album."

UPDATE (10/26, 1:30 p.m.): Now Bowie himself has 
confirmed the album via his website.

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