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The Next Day

The secret comeback album, made in New York over eighteen months and announced after a ten-year silence.
David Bowie, 2013

Released
8 March 2013
Recorded
May 2011 to October 2012
Studio
Magic Shop and Human Worldwide, New York
Label
ISO, Columbia
Producer
David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Length
53:17

Bowie and Visconti recorded it between 2 May 2011 and October 2012. Everyone involved signed a non-disclosure agreement, and the president of Sony did not learn of the album until October 2012. The announcement came on 8 January 2013 with the single Where Are We Now?

The album reached number one in the UK, selling 94,048 copies in its first week, for his ninth UK number one and his first since 1993. It reached number two in the US. Metacritic scored it 81 out of 100. Simon Reynolds of the New York Times called it a twilight masterpiece, while Andrew Petridis of the Guardian found the lyrics so dense and allusive that a set of York Notes might help.

Track listing

  1. The Next Day3:27
  2. Dirty Boys2:58
  3. The Stars (Are Out Tonight)3:56
  4. Love Is Lost3:57
  5. Where Are We Now?4:08
  6. Valentine's Day3:01
  7. If You Can See Me3:15
  8. I'd Rather Be High3:53
  9. Boss of Me4:09
  10. Dancing Out in Space3:24
  11. How Does the Grass Grow?4:33
  12. (You Will) Set the World on Fire3:30
  13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die4:37
  14. Heat4:25

Personnel

More from David Bowie

Space Oddity (1969), Hunky Dory (1971), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), Aladdin Sane (1973), Diamond Dogs (1974), Young Americans (1975), Station to Station (1976), Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), Lodger (1979), Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980), Let's Dance (1983), Heathen (2002), Blackstar (2016)

Sources

  1. The Next Day, Wikipedia