David Bowie ‘Lazarus’ Video is Creepy; Album Friday

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Screen cap from Bowie’s “Lazarus” video

Update (January 7): Never one to avoid controversy, David Bowie has released a “deliciously disturbing” video – as his Facebook page describes it – for his single, “Lazarus.” It’s an apt description as the Johan Renck-directed clip is seriously creepy. The album, ★ (Blackstar), arrives Friday, January 8th.

As we near the release of David Bowie’s much-anticipated new studio album, ★ (Blackstar) on Columbia Records, fans can get their hands on an early gift – a new single “Lazarus” is officially out. Long-time producer Tony Visconti says he and the classic rock legend looked to hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar for inspiration.

“We wound up with nothing like that, but we loved the fact Kendrick was so open-minded and he didn’t do a straight-up hip-hop record,” Visconti told Rolling Stone last month. “He threw everything on there, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do.”

Meanwhile, the busy English singer’s off-Broadway musical production of the same name, Lazarus, sold out in minutes and opened December 7th to rave reviews. Best Classic Bands’ previous coverage can be found here.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times writes that the show is “great-sounding, great-looking and mind-numbing,” creating “a haunting impression of dividedness, of life as a perplexing jumble of puzzle pieces that can never be fully assembled.”

★ is Bowie’s first new record since 2013’s The Next Day. The album arrives on the classic rock star’s 69th birthday – January 8th – and pre-orders are available now. Our earlier coverage is here.