This isn’t news, but David Bowie does the whole Legacy Artist thing right. Rather than rest on his laurels and survive on royalty, he uses his fame and money to support and gather talented, interesting artists, and then collaborates with them to make interesting music, even at the age of 68. He continues this trend today with the release of “Lazarus.”
The song is a six-and-a-half-minute long jam that features some psychedelic horn freak-outs and the best drum sound of the year. (The supposed influence of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly is fairly evident.) Bowie’s vocals are soaring and brooding, and the whole thing is very Berlin, in the best way possible.
“Lazarus” is the second song released from Bowie’s upcoming album, ★ — pronounced as Blackstar — that’s due out on January 8. It’s the only song from the album that will also be featured in Bowie’s Off Broadway musical of the same name. The official video for “Lazarus” is set for a January 7 release.