Happy Birthday Mr. Bowie

And thank you for the new single. From Quietus: Joyous news this morning as we tuned into Radio 4's Today programme only to find that David Bowie has surprise released a new track at 5am to celebrate his birthday, and has a new album in 2013. Oh my! With Bowie's recent health scares, we thought that this might never happen. The Next Day will be released on March 16th 2013. Now, not that we want to speculate, but is this a fourth part to the Berlin trilogy of albums? According to the artwork on iTunes, the artwork is the same as Heroes, but with a white square and the words 'the next day' superimposed on it. Then, just listen to the Tony Visconti-produced new track 'Where Are We Now?', with it's lyrics "had to get the train / from Potsdamer Platz" and the video (see above) that features footage of Berlin, and Bowie's face projected onto a shape, by long-time collaborator Tony Oursler. The song itself, well, it's proper Bowie, but with a really gorgeous swell, and at times heart-rending reflective tone to it. Brilliant stuff. My word. Go to the Bowie website here to listen. The Telegraph quotes a "spokesman" as saying the news came "from out of nowhere", adding "Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie despite his extraordinary track record that includes album sales in excess of 130 million not to mention his massive contributions in the area of art, fashion, style, sexual exploration and social commentary."