One minute past midnight on January 8th, the day that would have been David Bowie’s 70th birthday, a subtly stunning video for the song “No Plan” surfaced quietly at http://smarturl.it/
The “No Plan” clip was directed by Tom Hingston, whose previous collaborations with Bowie include the award-winning visual interpretation of the original version of “Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)” from the Nothing Has Changed compilation. The “No Plan” video features a sparse, compelling narrative that reinforces the hypnotic pull of the ballad hailed by Rolling Stone—who ranked it #4 in their 50 Best Songs of 2016–as “a magnificent coda… one last transmission from the Bowie universe.”
Recorded during the sessions for David Bowie’s 28th and final album, ★, “No Plan” is one of three final Bowie studio recordings held in the vault until the October 21, 2016 release of the Lazarus Cast Album. Previously available only with full album purchase of the Lazarus Cast Album, those songs–“No Plan,” “Killing A Little Time” and “When I Met You”—have been released along with ★ single and Cast Album title track “Lazarus” as the No Plan digital EP, issued January 8 on ISO/Columbia. In addition, the three songs are now available for the first time on streaming services and as a la carte downloads.
Despite the complete lack of fanfare around their reveal, the “No Plan” video amassed over 500,000 views in its first 24 hours online, while the No Plan EP reached #1 on the iTunes charts of 11 countries including the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Sweden, and broke the Top 20 in more than 30 territories.
January 8, 2017 also marked the one-year anniversary of the release of ★. In the 12 months since the release of ★, the album has only grown in stature, establishing itself as a critical and commercial high point of David Bowie’s peerless catalogue. Having hit #1 in more than 20 countries (including Bowie’s first #1 in the U.S.), ★ closed out 2016 with five Grammy nominations—Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Recording Package, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical—and top honours in critics’ best of 2016 lists including #1 positions in the AV Club, Flavorwire, The Los Angeles Times, MOJO, Newsweek, Now, Paste, Q, The Wire, Uncut and more, #2 spots including the BBC, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, NPR and Rolling Stone, ultimately placing in the year-end lists of more major publications than any album released in 2016