BBE Music announced Friday (Jan. 8) that it will release a David Bowie tribute compilation album called Modern Love this spring. The announcement arrives on the same day as what would have been the pop star’s 74th birthday and shortly before the fifth anniversary of his death on Sunday.
Modern Love honors Bowie’s lesser-known contributions to soul, R&B, jazz, funk and gospel with reimagined covers of his songs performed by Jeff Parker, We Are KING, Meshell Ndegeocello, Helado Negro, Khruangbin, Matthew Tavares, L’Rain, Nia Andrews and more. Music executive and DJ Drew McFadden and BBE Music founder Peter Adarkwah curated the project, which found inspiration from the prominent jazz influences heard in Blackstar, his final album from 2016.
“I felt that the connection between Bowie and R&B, jazz, funk, gospel and all things soulful, had never really been explored before — at least not so much in covers, which tend to lean more towards rock and pop,” McFadden said in a press release. “Certainly, there’s been plenty of Bowie covers over the years, but none that have really tapped into what seems to have been a big part of his core musical style and direction.”
