David Bowie Shares Haunting, Distorted New Track 'Blackstar'
You definitely want to hear this new David Bowie song, and not just because it’s a new David Bowie song.
It’s called “Blackstar” and it’s the theme for The Last Panthers, a crime drama on Great Britain’s Sky Atlantic. So far, all we’ve got is the minute-long sample (via the show’s opening credits), but it’s still worth checking out.
“On the day of execution, lonely women kneel and smile,” Bowie opens, with his vocals cloaked in ghostly distortion. There’s distant chanting, a basic programmed beat, and a bit of guitar coming in just before the sample cuts out. We’re intrigued to hear where this goes next.
David Bowie Writing Theme For Crime Thriller ‘The Last Panthers’
Album art for “The Last Panthers,” 2015.
On Bowie’s official Facebook page, director Johan Renck described how the legendary musician’s early impression of the show urged him to contribute the track:
I showed Mr. Bowie the two first episodes in the rough state they were at the time, and he liked what he saw very much. We discussed the various aspects of the show; naturally the plot line, but also the underlying currents of guilt and personality flaws. We talked about the dark heart of Europe. We talked about the biblical aspects of human nature. He asked if there was anything else to see, so I showed him the first concept board I had just made for the title sequence - images from the show laced with chimaeras and demons from the worlds of Bosch and Grunewald. That’s when he said go - it all fits. Then he played me his new song BLACKSTAR.
The six-part series premieres in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria via Sky Atlantic on Nov. 12 and in France via Canal+.
