Bowie Explains The Next Day

30 Apr 2013

David Bowie has broken his silence surrounding his latest album, The Next Day, providing a list of 42 words to describe the record. Having previously left all publicity to his peers, Bowie didn't comment on his release until author Ricky Moody made a more unusual request.

'I wanted to think about it in light of what he was thinking about it. I wanted to understand the lexicon of The Next Day, and so I simply asked if he would provide this list of words about his album, assuming, like everyone else waving madly trying to get his attention, that there was not a chance in hell that I would get this list.' - Ricky Moody

The words Bowie used are as follows: Effigies, Indulgences, Anarchist, Violence, Chthonic, Intimidation, Vampyric, Pantheon, Succubus, Hostage, Transference, Identity, Mauer, Interface, Flitting, Isolation, Revenge, Osmosis, Crusade, Tyrant, Domination, Indifference, Miasma, Pressgang, Displaced, Flight, Resettlement, Funereal, Glide, Trace, Balkan, Burial, Reverse, Manipulate, Origin, Text, Traitor, Urban, Comeuppance, Tragic, Nerve, Mystification

Left: Taken from the CHANGES collection. Bowie evokes some of these emotions in the 1977 shoot for "Heroes". An altered version of the final cover was used for The Next Day album sleeve.