Well, after quite a few listens last night and this morning I can honestly say that I love this new song, ★.
Vocally, Bowie is on fine form, eerie, haunted vocals giving way to the stunning middle section. This part seems like it's harking back to the soulful Bowie of Young Americans with some lovely, clear and beautifully pitched vocals, but there's still the unsettling electronic backing voices too. The long chanting aaaahhhhs have been described as vaguely Gregorian chant, but there's also a link back to the similar aaaahhhhs in 1970's "The Supermen". It's odd that the song seems disjointed at first but gradually the structure of the three parts melds together and now it obviously fits together, and couldn't be any other way.
The lyrics are a series of seemingly disconnected images that add up to an overriding feeling of dread and foreboding. In this there are echoes of Scott Walker, as he makes his words work in a similar way. Much has been made of the musical similarity between "Blackstar" and recent Scott Walker music, but I can't really hear it - yes both are resolutely ploughing their own furrows, making the sort of music that they want, unencumbered by commercial requirements, but Bowie's music is certainly lighter and more playful. The skittering percussion is superb, as are the little squelchy stabs of synth.
The video is something else - the shaking dancing was apparently inspired by old cartoons (where background figures would always keep moving in a shuddering three second loop, because static figures would catch your eye too much), the skull stuff lifts from myths about the Templars (something Bowie has touched on before) but makes it all much more sci-fi (and there's even a couple of steals from the film Moon (directed by Bowie's son Duncan Jones). And by sticking the skeleton in a space suit there's inevitably going to be links to Major Tom, last heard of strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all time low...
Bowie himself is on terrific form, lots of freaky dancing, and the character with the bandages across his face and the buttons for eyes is rather disturbing. Yes it's all terribly pretentious and bordering on silly - but then so was the video to "Ashes To Ashes", or "Loving The Alien" or "Little Wonder" or frankly 90% of all the videos he's ever made, and to be honest, I'd be extremely disappointed if a Bowie video wasn't pretentious and faintly silly.
Above all though, David Bowie looks and sounds very fit and healthy, dispelling all the stories of poor health. Yes he had heart problems ten years ago, but various unpleasant rumours of debilitating strokes and limited movement seem to have been utterly unfounded. Thank goodness.
So, a big thumbs up from me. Really looking forward to the album now!
Vocally, Bowie is on fine form, eerie, haunted vocals giving way to the stunning middle section. This part seems like it's harking back to the soulful Bowie of Young Americans with some lovely, clear and beautifully pitched vocals, but there's still the unsettling electronic backing voices too. The long chanting aaaahhhhs have been described as vaguely Gregorian chant, but there's also a link back to the similar aaaahhhhs in 1970's "The Supermen". It's odd that the song seems disjointed at first but gradually the structure of the three parts melds together and now it obviously fits together, and couldn't be any other way.
The lyrics are a series of seemingly disconnected images that add up to an overriding feeling of dread and foreboding. In this there are echoes of Scott Walker, as he makes his words work in a similar way. Much has been made of the musical similarity between "Blackstar" and recent Scott Walker music, but I can't really hear it - yes both are resolutely ploughing their own furrows, making the sort of music that they want, unencumbered by commercial requirements, but Bowie's music is certainly lighter and more playful. The skittering percussion is superb, as are the little squelchy stabs of synth.
The video is something else - the shaking dancing was apparently inspired by old cartoons (where background figures would always keep moving in a shuddering three second loop, because static figures would catch your eye too much), the skull stuff lifts from myths about the Templars (something Bowie has touched on before) but makes it all much more sci-fi (and there's even a couple of steals from the film Moon (directed by Bowie's son Duncan Jones). And by sticking the skeleton in a space suit there's inevitably going to be links to Major Tom, last heard of strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all time low...
Bowie himself is on terrific form, lots of freaky dancing, and the character with the bandages across his face and the buttons for eyes is rather disturbing. Yes it's all terribly pretentious and bordering on silly - but then so was the video to "Ashes To Ashes", or "Loving The Alien" or "Little Wonder" or frankly 90% of all the videos he's ever made, and to be honest, I'd be extremely disappointed if a Bowie video wasn't pretentious and faintly silly.
Above all though, David Bowie looks and sounds very fit and healthy, dispelling all the stories of poor health. Yes he had heart problems ten years ago, but various unpleasant rumours of debilitating strokes and limited movement seem to have been utterly unfounded. Thank goodness.
So, a big thumbs up from me. Really looking forward to the album now!
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