David Bowie – ★ – Album Review by Killian Laher

Once again, just when you have finally written off David Bowie, he proves he cannot be ignored. This album represents a move away from the relatively straightforward art-rock of 2013’s The Next Day, moving towards longer songs with looser structures. The title track will split fans down the middle. It’s 10 minutes long and opens with Bowie crooning a vaguely Middle Eastern melody over jumpy keyboards with a saxophone playing away moodily in the background. Halfway through, however, the track shifts to a major key, euphoric keyboards introduce Bowie sounding in fine voice, singing about how “I’m a blackstar” over and over to his heart’s content. It’s a lot to pack into one track!

The altogether more conventional (which isn’t saying much) ‘Tis A Pity She’s A Whore opens with pounding drums and another unsettling melody, with yet more brass warbling away in the background. It’s a bit of a mess to be honest, and it’s doubtful it would work in another artist’s hands. The album shifts again with one of the more accessible moments here, Lazarus. With a gorgeous, steady guitar part which conjures up The Cure’s Faith or Disintegration, this brooding track will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Heat, the soaring, final track on The Next Day.

It’s back to strangeness for the almost atonal Sue (Or In A Season of Crime) which is reminiscent of Bowie’s late 90s forays into drum ‘n’ bass, but with added weirdness. Despite lapsing into profanity on Girl Loves Me (“where the fuck did Monday go? Who the fuck’s gonna mess with me”), it’s a reasonably successful track, a slab of sparse, pulsing artronica with nonsensical lyrics. Dollar Days is the closest thing here to a quintessential David Bowie track, a sweeping ballad featuring an audible acoustic guitar splattered with bursts of brass. And the final track, I Can’t Give Everything Away sounds almost conventional in comparison to some of the rest of the material. It’s a skittish, nervous update of mid 90s track Strangers When We Meet, with a little Soul Love thrown in, which works!

The album is less of a self-homage than his previous album. When he does reference his older material it’s in a subtle, less obvious way. It’s a decidedly odd album, not one for the fairweather Bowie-phile, yet it improves on every listen. Definitely not his most enjoyable album but an interesting listen nonetheless. David Bowie is doing whatever the hell David Bowie wants to do, and there’s something to be said for that.

Tracklist –

1. Blackstar ★
2. ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore
3. Lazarus
4. Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)
5. Girl Loves Me
6. Dollar Days
7. I Can’t Give Everything Away

★