Track Of The Day: David Bowie - Zeroes (2018)

Not a brand new David Bowie track, sadly. Over two years after his death, I'm still not used to talking about Bowie in past tense. It's still hard to believe that he isn't out there making music, and that there won't be any more of his extraordinary magic. I'm usually sceptical about "new" music that was completed after the artists death. It doesn't feel right when that artist is no longer around to decide how their work is going to sound. Especially a musician like Bowie, a true visionary who demanded full artistic control. I'm also sceptical about previously released albums being re-recorded or remixed. An album is what it is: a unique piece of art that provides a snapshot of the artist at that moment in time. Every flaw is part of the sonic document. Why mess with something, even if you think it needs improving or not?

So I should be a bit miffed that the 1987 album 'Never Let Me Down' has been re-recorded with new instrumentation then? Not in this case. Among fans, NLMD has always been regarded as an LP that features some great songs ruined by overegged, cheap-sounding late 1980s production. "It's not what he would've wanted" some will say. Although Bowie wasn't present to approve the finished result, the project came about as an idea of his. According to a press release "The seeds of this reimagining of the album were first sown in 2008 when David asked Mario McNulty to remix the track ‘Time Will Crawl’ and record new drums by longtime Bowie drummer, Sterling Campbell, along with strings. The track was issued on the iSelect compilation to much acclaim, and in the notes, for that record, David remarked ‘Oh, to redo the rest of that album’.

Fast-forward to early 2018 McNulty entered Electric Lady Studios in New York with Sterling, Tim Lefebvre on bass, who was in the ★ (“Blackstar") band and Reeves Gabrels and David Torn on guitars. All of the musicians had a history with David, so were a perfect fit for what now sound like brand new songs. Nico Muhly, whom Mario first met when they were both interns working for Philip Glass in 2001, has handled the string arrangements. The re-workings have revealed ‘Never Let Me Down’ as a very strong collection of songs with a dark thematic thread running through them. Fans listening to ‘NEVER LET ME DOWN (2018)’ would be forgiven for thinking that they were listening to a brand new ‘lost’ Bowie record."

This new version of the album is included as part of the upcoming Loving The Alien (1983 – 1988), the fourth in a series of box sets spanning his career.

The 11 CD and 15 piece vinyl set also includes the albums 'Let's Dance', 'Tonight' and the original 'Never Let Me Down', as well as two live LP's, a collection of remixes, and a compilation of edits, B sides and non album tracks. It is released on October 12. From it is this new version of 'Zeroes'. Although Bowie was never one to revisit the past, I think he would approve.