David Bowie’s first album in ten years, The Next Day, is being released in March 8th 2013 via Sony, and just as fans have already been given a taste of the new album in the video for the sombre ‘Where Are We Now?’ dropping seemingly out of nowhere in early January; Bowie has now released a second song and video for his 24th(!) studio release.
“The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” is the name of the new single, and to accompany its launch, there is a six-minute clip-come-short film starring Bowie and British actress Tilda Swinton as an old couple who’s lives begin to get more than a little strange when a pair of svelte-looking celebrity stalkers move into town, taking up occupancy with an androgynous Bowie-lookalike who disturbs the neighbours with some good old fashioned rock.
The video was directed by Italian photographer and filmmaker Floria Sigismondi, who as FasterLouder points out, has worked with Bowie before on the videos for ‘Dead Man Walking’ and ‘Little Wonder’. Sigismondi is also the visionary behind memorable clips for Sigur Ros, Interpol, Muse, and many more. A six-minute clip-come-short film starring Bowie and British actress Tilda Swinton as an old couple who’s lives begin to get more than a little strange
Australian model Andrej Pejic and Dutch model Saskia De Brauw play the spooky couple that interrupt Bowie and Swinton’s pleasant existence with a nice dose of murderous intent and kinky seduction, and much like the video for ‘Where Are We Now?’ referred to Bowie’s past – showing old stock footage of the Auto Parts shop that the singer used to live above in his ‘Berlin period’ – the new video also features a singer dressed remarkably like the ‘Thin White Duke’ character of the same era.
In conjunction with the lyrics, it would appear that Bowie’s latest is about the fickle obsessive nature of celebrity culture, as he sings “They are the stars/they’re dying for you/but I hope they live forever.”
In contrast to the slower, reflective ‘Where Are We Now?’, ‘The Stars’ is a much rockier, electric affair – presumably one of the “five really blistering rock tracks” that producer Tony Visconti was referring to on The Next Day. “The subject matter he choses to write about is amazing,” he told press in revealing the secret to how Bowie was working on a new album for two years without the wider media’s knowledge; “the album’s got a lot of substance. You’re going to have to listen to it many times, because the lyrical content’s going to take a long time to absorb,” Visconti said.
Bowie’s helped to that end by providing two handwritten lyric sheets for ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ through his official website, which you can also view below.
Both ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ and ‘Where Are We Now?’ are to be bundled together as a limited edition 7” 45 vinyl record for this year’s Record Store Day on April 20th 2013, for which Jack White was recently named official ambassador.
You can view the artwork and tracklisting for The Next Day, due for worldwide release March 8th via Sony, and Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for ‘The Stars’ below:
The Next Day tracklisting
01. The Next Day 3:51
02. Dirty Boys 2:58
03. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) 3:56
04. Love Is Lost 3:57
05. Where Are We Now? 4:08
06. Valentine’s Day 3:01
07. If You Can See Me 3:16
08. I’d Rather Be High 3:53
09. Boss Of Me 4:09
10. Dancing Out In Space 3:24
11. How Does The Grass Grow 4:33
12. (You Will) Set The World On Fire 3:30
13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die 4:41
14. Heat 4:25
Bonus tracks:
15. So She 2:31
16. I’ll Take You There 2:44
17. Plan 2:34
