Today, David Bowie releases his new album, ★ (Blackstar), via ISO/Columbia Records. Spotify users can stream it in full below. It’s also available through Apple Music.
His 26th (!) studio LP to date, ★ follows 2013’s The Next Day and was co-produced by longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. Its seven tracks were said to be inspired by Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips, and feature additional percussion from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.
(Read: David Bowie Will Never Die: Decoding the Icon Who Fell to Earth)
Along with previously issued singles “‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore” and “Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)”, the full-length includes a single called “Lazarus”, which shares its name with the off-Broadway production Bowie co-wrote and contributed music to.
In her glowing review of the album, Sasha Geffen writes:
“It would have been so easy for Bowie to make Next Day after Next Day, to satisfy the nostalgists with carefully measured Bowie rock. But Bowie has always been more of a pose than a sound, and to see him fall into complacency would disrupt his cultural standing more than any deviation from his formula.★ is a battle cry against boredom, a wide-eyed drama set in a world just beyond our scopes. It doesn’t get more Bowie than that.”
Purchase a copy of the album here.
(Read: A Beginner’s Guide to David Bowie)
★ Tracklist:
01. Blackstar
02. ‘Tis A Pity She Was a Whore
03. Lazarus
04. Sue (Or In a Season of Crime)
05. Girl Loves Me
06. Dollar Days
07. I Can’t Give Everything Away
