Much has been written about David Bowie’s magnificent emergence from what everyone assumed to be retirement. What I admire most about it is the utterly understated way it was carried out. Excuse me, but I’ve been working, he says and we all feel stupid for thinking otherwise.

Where Are We Now is a gorgeous, melancholy piece of nostalgia about Bowie’s Berlin days. He is, as he says, ‘a man lost in time.’ He sighs his way through the opening verse and soars as he reaches the refrain. You’re not sure you like it that much on the first listen, but there’s something addictive about it and on second, third and fourth listen, you’re hooked. That’s how it went for me, anyway.

We’re promised more music by March and have been treated to the titles of the songs on his forthcoming album The Next Day. It is looking like 2013 could be the year that Bowie saves modern music, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s a daunting task.

/HC