BBE Music announces forthcoming David Bowie tribute album ‘Modern Love’ with first single ‘Space Oddity’ reinterpreted by Grammy-nominated twin sisters We Are KING.
Much lauded by the likes of Rolling Stone, TIME, Glamour and The New York Times, We Are KING‘s ethereal, synth-laden soul sound has earned them the #1 position on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and their self-titled debut album placed within the Top Ten on the Independent and R&B Album charts. The duo has also contributed writing, production, vocals, keys and arrangements to Corrine Bailey Rae, Bilal, Robert Glasper, Sam Sparro and The Foreign Exchange among many others.
Released on David Bowie’s birthday (January 8th 2021), their cover of his surprise 1972 hit ‘Space Oddity’ is a paean to this wholly singular and somewhat eccentric anthem. Smooth, subtle and assured, We Are KING’s version remains true to the original, while blending in just enough soul to make it their own.
“There were so many amazing Bowie compositions to choose from but Space Oddity has always been our favorite- it’s so visual; it has always felt like time travel in a song. It tells such a vivid and imaginative story of Major Tom’s trip through space and it was such a cool experience to reimagine what it’d be like on the voyage” – We Are KING.
Like BBE album ‘Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads’ did for the music of Radiohead back in 2006, ‘Modern Love’ offers a fresh look at David Bowie’s diverse and transcendent back catalogue. The project is curated by Music Exec & DJ Drew McFadden, alongside BBE Music founder Peter Adarkwah.
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell
My favorite artists are ones who aren't afraid to try something completely different. I hear Charles Stepney, David Axelrod's Earth Rot, Steve Reich, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and others in this, but it's undeniably Sault in the end. As usual, probably my favorite album of the year. mackro
The Montréal-based R&B artist marries the complexity of her experiences to the groove of the beat on her third EP. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 27, 2022