For this week’s weekend reads I was hoping to be able to do a review of a documentary shown a couple of weeks ago on BBC/The ABC called ‘David Bowie: 5 years in the making of an icon’. I was deeply disappointed though to realise that I was too late, and that it had already been taken off ABC’s iView and I cannot seem to find it anywhere. So, I thought I would stick with the theme and instead do a delayed review Bowie’s latest album ‘The Next Day’.
I have been a big fan of David Bowie for years. Even since my mother introduced me to his music whilst I was in high school I have been thoroughly obsessed. In fact, for my 24th Birthday I had a ‘David Bowie’ themed party (see pic).
The thing about Bowie is not just that he had a catalogue of amazing music. Look through his 40 years of music and you cannot help but love what he has produced. From classic glam rock albums such as Ziggy Stardust, to more soulful pieces such as Young Americans, to great 80s pop such as Let’s Dance. Even his recent albums – the odd electronica of Outside, and the modern pop of Reality have been classics in their won way. Bar a couple there is something amazing about everything Bowie has done. But it’s not just his music. To love Bowie you also have to love his life – a trailblazer in gay music and identity, someone who broke down the barriers of gender presentation, and a versatile character. With Bowie you never knew what you’re going to get next. Every year is different, every decade he is something different.
Starting to enjoy Bowie only in the mid naughties however I missed all of this. I had to catch up. By the time I started listening to him his latest album ‘Reality’ had already been released, and he had already completed his tour (finished early due to a heart attack). Bowie was staying out of the spotlight, and whilst everyone hoped he would produce more music, it seemed unlikely. The story seemed to be over. No more shocks. No more music. No more changes. And so I had to experience it through the past – after the characters had already been revealed.
I cannot explain how excited I was therefore when Bowie announced that he would be releasing a new album this year called ‘The Next Day’. For those of you who don’t remember, Bowie announced the album on his 66th birthday, simultaneously releasing his first single ‘Where Are We Now?’.
The legend was back, and following a career of shocks and shifts, he continued that trend. You can’t really appreciate The Next Day without appreciated the circumstances in which it came about – in fact I could say that for most of Bowie’s albums. As with most of his work, the story and character behind the album is just as important as the music itself.
And The Next Day produced a new character in Bowie, one that I think no one ever thought could exist again. Apparently Bowie, and his producer, Tony Visconti, had been working on The Next Day in studios for 2 years, yet no one had any clue of its release until the day it was announced. Since its announcement, Bowie has made basically no public appearances. Whilst Visconti has done interviews, I still haven’t found one for Bowie. No TV appearances, no magazine interviews, no radio shows, no concerts. An album without all the fanfare of modern music.
In doing so Bowie has once again broken down barriers and created a new character that exists almost no where within the music industry. Whilst in the past he was challenging norms around gender and sexuality, with The Next Day, he has taken on the music industry, and more importantly a world in which nothing is private and fame is considered essential to success. Bowie, a legend in the music scene, someone who could make millions off interviews and concerts, has stayed back in the backgrounds and avoided the crowds. He has stayed as a recluse, allowing the music to do the talking. And boy has it done the talking.
You can see how this ‘character’ has played out in the music. In the early stages of his career, and in particular around his ‘Berlin phase’ of music (a phase in the later seventies that covered the albums Low, Lodger and Heroes), Bowie was certainly not the ‘superstar’ artist that he would be considered now. His music was critically acclaimed, but he was not a commercial superstar. It was not until the 80s that he managed this fate with Let’s Dance – after the seventies – the period most would argue was when he produced his most influential music.
The Next Day feels as though it is aiming to return back to that time – both through his approach to the album and the music itself. The first release is the greatest tell-tale sign. ‘Where are we know?’ (see film clip below) is clearly a reflection on Bowie’s time in Berlin, both through the lyrics and the film clip.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtsV50_-p4&w=560&h=315]
I have to say I was surprised, and a little concerned, when ‘Where are we know?’ was released as the first single. The song is certainly not the best on the album, and I felt a fear that if it was the best Bowie could provide then ‘The Next Day’ would bomb.
But again, ‘Where are we now?’ was part of the play of the album. With its most direct links to Berlin, ‘Where are we now?’ singled what the album was going to be like – a return to the Berlin roots in a modern day setting. You could see it in the film clip – Bowie’s face today traveling through the places he spent his time in the city – the modern man returning to the venue of some of his greatest work. We saw it again with the release of the album cover – a remake of the famous cover of ‘Heroes’, with a white square across the face with the words ‘The Next Day’ emblazened across it (see image).
And this is what Bowie has produced. A modern day version of his classic Berlin albums. With a little bit more of a rock theme, Bowie takes back on a journey to the late 70s. He leads in with ‘The Next Day’ (see film clip below), with what feels like a direct reflection on his drug filled times in Berlin. In the song, Bowie sings:
“Here I am
Not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
Its branches throwing shadows
On the gallows for me
And the next day
And the next
And another day”
A direct reflection on his times in Berlin, but one that looks forward to the modern day.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wL9NUZRZ4I&w=560&h=315]
Bowie keeps the theme of drugs going in songs such as ‘I’d rather be high’, with obvious implications.
In ‘The stars (are out tonight), (see film clip below), Bowie returns to issues around gender and sexuality, bringing in Tilda Swinton as the star in the film clip. In the clip, Bowie, and Swinton (who acts as Bowie’s partner) go about their normal days until two ‘celebrities’ invade their house and drug them. In doing so they go up against a character, who also happens to be played by Swinton (I believe – but I may be wrong on that), who looks very much like Bowie in his early years. It’s a clear reflection on Bowie’s early life, the role of drugs and sexuality, and a questioning of fame.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH7dMBcg-gE&w=560&h=315]
In Valentine’s Day, Bowie brings back a ‘strangeness’ (it’s the only word I can find) that was a strong part of his earlier work. In the film clip sits in what looks like an empty warehouse playing the guitar by himself, slowly building up the intensity in his face. It becomes quite spooky as his eyes grow darker and deeper and you can see the intensity build. It reminds heavily of the work in Heroes in particular – a darkness that can send shivers down your spine. (Interestingly some suggest that this song is about a shooting on Valentine’s Day and a direct attack on the NRA – bringing in politics that Bowie has never been scared to shy away from). I feel something similar in the last song of the album ‘Heat’ – a song that very much brings me back to Heroes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4R8HTIgHUU&w=560&h=315]
These are just some of the songs that make the album great. I find it hard to criticise any of the songs – there is nothing you want to skip, and most importantly nothing that you would want to take out of the album.
And here is the thing that makes this album such genius. The themes that run throughout it – fame, gender, drugs, obscurity, challenging culture – they are the sorts of themes Bowie has played around with his entire life (among many others). In some ways I could see how people could think he has run out of ideas.
But that’s not what happens here. Because whilst Bowie is re-examining the themes of the past he is doing so with a future focus. Tony Visconti said that the album is ‘of a piece’ with Bowie’s 1979 album Lodger. That is how I see it too – a unique mix of music that gets better with almost every listen. It is astonishing how much more you learn about it every time. But whilst it reflects heavily on Bowie’s Berlin works, he does so in the only way he can – through creating a new character – one that is of the past and the future at the same time. He plays with his vocal performance throughout. He builds songs slowly, and then hits you in the face. He creates music that is long lasting, rather an instant. He creates a modern album that also brings back everything good from his past.
In The Next Day, Bowie does what he has done well for decades. It is not an album full of number one hits. But that is never what Bowie has done. It is instead a classic that will grow on us all – even almost 6 months after its release.