The clue to the sound of Bowie’s last album of the 20th century was there for all to see on its cover. There he sat, Bowie cradling his younger self (complete with Earthling hair). Was this the David Bowie of 1999 saying goodbye to the David Bowie of the 1990s, the aging rock star who had embraced electronica and drum & bass? Hours definitely feels like it’s the beginning of a new chapter in the Bowie story, even if its sounds echo his past.
The album had an unusual genesis. Bowie and longtime collaborator Reeves Gabrels had, in early 1999, been invited to contribute to the soundtrack of a video game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul. The commission would provide the springboard for the Hours album, and seven of its songs would, in moderately different guises, be included in the game.