Blackstar, the 25th and final studio album by David Bowie, released January 8th on his 69th birthday, was released just two days before the thin white duke’s ascension into the next world. Longtime producer and friend Tony Visconti stated in a facebook post that Bowie’s death is a “Work of Art”, as you will quickly find out after your first listen to the new record. Bowie’s most experimental album in decades, inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”, has quickly become quite the foreboding artifice, spanning a truly profound career as an artist for over five decades.
The first track and title track off the album, “Blackstar”, is just shy of ten minutes and takes you on a journey through space and death with the help of Donny McCaslin on saxophone, and the sci-fi drum and bass of Mark Guilliana and Tim Lefebvre, respectively. The song depicts a woman with a tail discovering a deceased astronaut who then takes his bejeweled crown to an ancient, extraneous village. “Tis a Pity She Was a Whore” was inspired by a play written in the 1600’s by John Ford. On his website, Bowie states that the song “acknowledges the shocking rawness of the First World War” and features a jazz-fueled melody and solid bass groove that keeps Bowie’s lyrics grounded yet abstract.
The next song, Lazarus, artistically yet eerily premonistic, offers one of the most solid grooves off Blackstar, featuring some of the finest production work of Tony Visconti on the album. The first line of the song, “ Look up here I’m in Heaven. I’ve got scars that can’t be seen. I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen. Everybody knows me now.” is a poignant reminder of how blessed we were to have David’s art be a part of our lives’ for so many years. “Sue (or in a Season of Crime)” features the work of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and the erratic guitar melodies of Ben Monder on guitar and Jay Anderson on Bass. “Girl Loves Me” almost seems to channel the Nadsat language of the young thugs from Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange”, with the repeating line of “Where the fuck did Monday go?”. The theatrical ballad of “Dollar Days” resonates with the solid saxophone styles of mid- 80’s pop while not detracting from the space/trance theme of Blackstar. .The electronic drum beat and lyrics of “I can’t give everything away” reminds us of the obscure nature of Bowie’s art, life, and now the unknown of one the greatest contemporary artists of the last century.