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“Nothing remains,” croons David Bowie at the very start of Heathen, his
evocative new album. Those two words - and the passion with which Bowie
sings them - set the tone for the record as a whole. Abandonment and
desolation loom large; even the singer’s three cover tunes find him
lamenting what (or who) is lost, and searching for some form of redemption
in an increasingly strange and difficult world.
Heathen was produced by Tony Visconti, who played a key
role in a good number of David Bowie’s most celebrated recordings, but
hasn’t worked with him since 1980’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
Thankfully, the past two decades have not robbed Visconti of his flair for
making great David Bowie records; on Heathen, he creates and sustains a
sparse, atmospheric sound that beautifully conjures up the barren
post-modern world that the singer is ruminating on. He also manages to make
beautiful use of a string quartet, most notably on the lush, haunting “I
Would Be Your Slave,” which was unveiled in a more mournful fashion by Bowie
and Visconti earlier this year at Carnegie Hall’s annual Tibet House
benefit.
Perhaps having his old producer around freed Bowie from having to obsess so
much over the sound of the record, allowing him to concentrate on
writing - or perhaps he was just particularly inspired this time out.
Whatever the reason, the nine original numbers on Heathen make up Bowie’s
finest collection of songs in a long while. Every tune is captivating, and
some even rank with the artist’s best work as a writer. The propulsive
“Slow Burn” - featuring lead guitar by none other than Pete Townshend - is
sort of the anti-“Heroes”, unsure of man’s ability to survive troubled times
in the modern world. “Everyone Says ‘Hi’” touchingly addresses a loved one
who abruptly ran away. “Sunday” and “Heathen (The Rays)” paint such vivid,
emotional pictures of the turmoil left behind in the wake of destruction
that it is hard to believe (as Bowie, a New Yorker these days, attests) they
were written before last September 11th.
Perhaps most remarkable is “Slip Away”, a moving, elliptical song that
evokes New Jersey legend Uncle Floyd’s old cult TV program - a show
reportedly introduced to Bowie by John Lennon, who surely is smiling about
his friend’s new tune somewhere. Lyrically, the song is reminiscent of
R.E.M.’s “Man on the Moon”, which conjured the late Andy Kaufman - and of
Bowie’s own “Ziggy Stardust” - in the way it brings its characters to life.
Its majestic melody hearkens back to the Ziggy Stardust days, as well.
Having noted that, the Spiders from Mars would never set a tempo so
deliberate; sonically, “Slip Away” feels more akin to Bowie's more
experimental late ’70s sound. The use of a Bowie-manned Stylophone in its
coda is positively inspired, and Visconti truly seems to give the music
wings, allowing it to sonically go “sailing over Coney Island” along with
the chorus.
Heathen's three covers come from some wildly varied sources, and yet all
mesh well with the new material. “I’ve Been Waiting for You”, from Neil
Young’s 1969 solo debut, has long been a Bowie favorite, having been
performed on some Tin Machine dates in the early ’90s; here, the singer
renders it with the same intensity that he lends to his own songs. Even
more impressive is Bowie’s throbbing rendition of the Pixies’ “Cactus,”
which looks at longing through a darker, more primal lens than the original
material on Heathen. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy’s “I Took A Trip on a
Gemini Spaceship” could be a disastrous cover in the wrong hands, but with
Bowie the song stylist making it his own, and Visconti supplying some
Eastern-flavored strings, it works quite nicely.
It has been evident from very early in his career that David Bowie is a
restless artist, never one to look back too eagerly; more often than not,
this approach has resulted in great artistic strides. The miracle of
Heathenis that it finds Bowie revisiting a great collaborator from the
past, yet still moving forward as an artist. One hopes Bowie and Visconti
continue to keep in touch; all these years later, their partnership still
shows quite a bit of promise.
review by Tom Ceraulo
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Figgle 2001-2007