A new David Bowie tribute album will highlight the influence of Black music and culture on the late icon's catalogue. Modern Love will arrive through BBE in May 2021.
Assembled by DJ and executive Drew McFadden and label founder Peter Adarkwah, Modern Love features contributions from Khruangbin (covering "Right"), Helado Negro ("Sound & Vision"), Tortoise's Jeff Parker ("Soul Love"), Matthew Tavares ("'Heroes'"), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson ("Life on Mars"), Meshell Ndegeocello ("Fantastic Voyage") and more.
"I felt that the connection between Bowie and Black music styles and culture (especially soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel) had never really been explored before — at least not so much in covers, which tend to lean towards rock," McFadden shared in a statement. "Certainly, there's been plenty of Bowie covers over the years, but none that have really tapped into what seems to have been a big part of his core musical style and direction."
The tribute album is previewed by We Are KING's cover of "Space Oddity." The duo — formerly a trio known as KING — had the following the say of their song selection:
There were so many amazing Bowie compositions to choose from but "Space Oddity" has always been our favourite — it's so visual; it has always felt like time travel in a song. It tells such a vivid and imaginative story of Major Tom's trip through space and it was such a cool experience to reimagine what it'd be like on the voyage.
Hear We Are KING's cover of "Space Oddity" alongside a complete tracklist below, and find more information on Modern Love here.
Modern Love:
1. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - "Life on Mars"
2. Helado Negro - "Sound & Vision"
3. Kit Sebastian - "Lady Grinning Soul"
4. Jeff Parker / The New Breed - "Soul Love" [ft. Ruby Parker]
5. Sessa - "Panic in Detroit"
6. The Hics - "The Man Who Sold the World"
7. Khruangbin - "Right"
8. Nia Andrews - "Silly Boy Blue"
9. Foxtrott - "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family"
10. L'Rain - "Move On"
11. Eddie Chacon / John Carroll Kirby - "Tonight"
12. Jonsh Mutono - "Modern Love"
13. Bullion - "Where Are We Now"
14. Meshell Ndegeocello - "Fantastic Voyage"
15. Matthew Tavares - "Heroes"
16. We Are KING - "Space Oddity"
Assembled by DJ and executive Drew McFadden and label founder Peter Adarkwah, Modern Love features contributions from Khruangbin (covering "Right"), Helado Negro ("Sound & Vision"), Tortoise's Jeff Parker ("Soul Love"), Matthew Tavares ("'Heroes'"), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson ("Life on Mars"), Meshell Ndegeocello ("Fantastic Voyage") and more.
"I felt that the connection between Bowie and Black music styles and culture (especially soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel) had never really been explored before — at least not so much in covers, which tend to lean towards rock," McFadden shared in a statement. "Certainly, there's been plenty of Bowie covers over the years, but none that have really tapped into what seems to have been a big part of his core musical style and direction."
The tribute album is previewed by We Are KING's cover of "Space Oddity." The duo — formerly a trio known as KING — had the following the say of their song selection:
There were so many amazing Bowie compositions to choose from but "Space Oddity" has always been our favourite — it's so visual; it has always felt like time travel in a song. It tells such a vivid and imaginative story of Major Tom's trip through space and it was such a cool experience to reimagine what it'd be like on the voyage.
Hear We Are KING's cover of "Space Oddity" alongside a complete tracklist below, and find more information on Modern Love here.
Modern Love:
1. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - "Life on Mars"
2. Helado Negro - "Sound & Vision"
3. Kit Sebastian - "Lady Grinning Soul"
4. Jeff Parker / The New Breed - "Soul Love" [ft. Ruby Parker]
5. Sessa - "Panic in Detroit"
6. The Hics - "The Man Who Sold the World"
7. Khruangbin - "Right"
8. Nia Andrews - "Silly Boy Blue"
9. Foxtrott - "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family"
10. L'Rain - "Move On"
11. Eddie Chacon / John Carroll Kirby - "Tonight"
12. Jonsh Mutono - "Modern Love"
13. Bullion - "Where Are We Now"
14. Meshell Ndegeocello - "Fantastic Voyage"
15. Matthew Tavares - "Heroes"
16. We Are KING - "Space Oddity"