Blackstar (From Blackstar – 2016)
Having only dropped in the middle of last November, the title track to Bowie’s final album immediately became an essential cut in his discography and its place was cemented with the context of his death. Watching the video back in November, my initial reaction was intrigue for the boundary pushing music, a twisted combination of jazz, avant-garde electronic music and haunting vocals, with time for a brief diversion into a just as twisted soft rock section.
It was everything people love about Bowie and an experimental return to form after the somewhat safe 2013 comeback album The Next Day. Another album/world for fans to indulge themselves in, invoking a diaspora of influences to dive into including Kendrick Lamar, Death Grips and krautrock. Back in November, it was just another fantastic Bowie song. In January, it makes so much more sense.
Words by Jack Hollis
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszLwBaC4Sw&w=740&h=422]