A previously unreleased David Bowie album, recorded in 2001, has been announced for release. Toy (Toy:Box) will arrive on January 7th, one day before what would have been the late icon’s 75th birthday. The first single, You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving, has been shared with the news as a digital single.
David Bowie | You've Got A Habit Of Leaving [Official Lyric Video]
Toy was recorded following Bowie’s triumphant Glastonbury set in 2000. He went into the studio with his band, Mark Plati, Sterling Campbell, Gail Ann Dorsey, Earl Slick, Mike Garson, Holly Palmer and Emm Gryner to record new interpretations of songs he'd first recorded between 1964-1971, adding a shimmering twist of pop to the original arrangements.
His intention was to make the album ‘old school' style – record the band playing together live, choose the best takes and then release it as soon as humanly possible. However, as always, Bowie was ahead of his time and the technology to facilitate his dream was still a few years off.
Now, twenty years after its originally planned release, Bowie’s co-producer Mark Plati says: “‘Toy’ is like a moment in time captured in an amber of joy, fire and energy. It’s the sound of people happy to be playing music. David revisited and re-examined his work from decades prior through prisms of experience and fresh perspective – a parallel not lost on me as I now revisit it twenty years later.”
“From time to time, he used to say ‘Mark, this is our album’ – I think because he knew I was so deeply in the trenches with him on that journey,” he added. “I’m happy to finally be able to say it now belongs to all of us.”
Available in 3CD or 6x10" vinyl formats, Toy (Toy:Box) is a special edition of the Toy album. The 'capture the moment' approach of the recording sessions are extended to the sleeve artwork designed by Bowie featuring a photo of him as a baby with a contemporary face. The package also contains a 16-page full-colour book featuring previously unseen photographs by Frank Ockenfels 3. Toy (Toy:Box) is due out on January 7th, 2022. Pre-order, here.
Also headed our way is the fifth instalment of the ongoing Brilliant Adventure series, chronicling Bowie’s incredible career from 1969 to the 21st century. The David Bowie 5. Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) box set includes vinyl versions of Bowie’s albums Black Tie White Noise, The Buddha Of Suburbia, 1. Outside, Earthling and hours…, alongside Toy, an LP of non-album singles, b-sides, a hardcover book and more. David Bowie 5. Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001), arrives November 26th. Pre-order, here.
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