David Bowie - No Plan

No Plan is an EP by British singer-songwriter David Bowie released posthumously in January 2017 via ISO Records and Columbia Records.

Its title a final grand, grim gesture, No Plan presents “Lazarus” and three outtakes from Blackstar, all of which were available on Lazarus: Original Cast Recording. Thinking they’re essential depends on one’s affection for Bowie, although any unreleased product will likely generate interest, especially after Blackstar’s four Grammy wins.

Explicit about an inevitability, affirming the continual satisfactions of a marriage that has lasted longer than anyone predicted, No Plan presents both a frailer yet more robust, almost libidinous David Bowie. Not for him rage against the dying of the light, a mode to which artists understandably succumb - he appreciated the texture and tint of the light while he still had eyes to see 

The chief pleasure of No Plan is musical: for the last time, listeners can relish the sinuous empathy between Bowie and his band. These guys were very good at what they did. On the title track, McCaslin blows mournful notes beneath Monder’s lines, complementing a Bowie lyric about getting “lost in streams of sound,” at which he has excelled.

For those after a headier experience, “Killing A Little Time” sports brawny guitars and Mark Guiliana’s strongest drumming. “This rage in me,” Bowie sings in that recognisable croon, its affect as ridiculous as a kid in Revolutionary War pantaloons. Cute too, as always with him. Savor it. When a key shift happens during the “I’m falling, man/I’m fading, man,” you’ll stop smiling.

We’re left with No Plan and how to incorporate it into the Bowie canon. In 2015, recording songs he understood would have to outlive him, he was still better at limning the oblique. Presenting listeners with two discrete but related musical adventures like Blackstar and No Plan, the survivors grasped that even the oblique tastes better with a dash of the obvious. No Plan offers the final recordings, one essential. Enjoy them, there ain’t no more.

Check out the tracks: “Lazarus”; “No Plan”; “When I Met You” and “Killing A Little Time”.

This 2017 Record Store Day Limited Edition and individually numbered EP with etched side 2 and digital download card is pressed in Europe on 180 gram clear (blue & white) heavyweight vinyl.