Less than a week ago, the one and only David Bowie teased★‘s title track with a mysterious thirty-second trailer. Now, the legend has released the full ten-minute video for “★” and we still don’t really know what’s going on. The video starts with the discovery of a deceased astronaut (“Something happened on the day he died”) on a dark planet while a blindfolded Bowie ominously wails about a candle at the center of it all. Shaking teenagers, twisting scarecrows, and bejeweled skulls swirl around in the creepy nightmare. The video ends and you are just as confused—if not more—as when you started it.
While you will probably never get the image of a writhing and shrieking scarecrow with no eyes and a bushy beard out out of your mind, take solace in the fact that “★” is a really good song. Beyond the fact that no one can evoke as much terror from a few well layered vocals and experimental flute solos as Bowie, at about the five-minute mark, “★” turns into slinky, horn-driven jam. “I want eagles in my daydreams / Diamonds in my eyes” he croons over a disco beat, funky bass line, and swelling strings. You can tell that Bowie is having fun as he dances around that dusty attic. It’s infectious and exciting.
Try to wrap your head around the “★” video below.
★ is due out on January 8, 2016, via Columbia.
