Bowie’s final recordings get release date

Three unreleased tracks that were recorded during David Bowie’s Blackstar sessions will feature on the Lazarus Cast Album, due out on October 21.

The release will feature studio versions, recorded by Bowie, of No Plan, Killing a Little Time and When I Met You on a 2-CD or 3-LP set. 

The release was co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and recorded with Blackstar musicians Donny McCaslin and his quartet.

Up until now, the unreleased tracks had only been heard onstage in Bowie’s hit off-Broadway production, Lazarus. The show premiered in New York last year and is set for a run at London’s King’s Cross Theatre starting on November 8.

While the highly anticipated tracks will appear on the second disc of the forthcoming album, the first disc will be comprised of 18 renditions of Bowie songs performed by the cast of Lazarus. It includes vocal displays by Michael C Hall, Sophia Anne Caruso, Cristin Milioti, Michael Esper and various other cast members.

The group is accompanied by a seven-piece house band, Hey, who formed for the New York run of the show.

The tracks were recorded by the cast on January 11 this year, the day after the highly publicised death of the pop icon. According to a statement, the cast was “shocked and saddened” when hearing of his death and “their emotional performances that day are captured on this recording”.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that Michael C Hall, backed by Henry Hey and the Lazarus house band, will perform the song Lazarus at this year’s Mercury Prize ceremony on September 15. Bowie’s Blackstar is among the 12 albums nominated for the esteemed award.