David Bowie releases snippet of new single Lazarus from Blackstar - listen

'Look up here, I'm in heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen'

David Bowie in Blackstar (Johnny King)

Seemingly, out of nowhere, David Bowie announced a new album, ★ (Blackstar), sending music fans - both young and old - into a slight frenzy.

Soon after the first single dropped, accompanied with a completely bonkers music video featuring stunning visuals and saxophone solos.

We have now been treated to the first snippet of the forthcoming single “Lazarus”, the only song off the album to feature in Bowie’s stage production, also titled Lazarus. Listen below.

'Look up here, I'm in heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen'

The 68-year-old’s long-serving producer Tony Visconti recently spoke about the surprising influences behind the album.

“We were listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar. We wound up with nothing like that, but we loved that Kendrick was so open-minded and that he didn’t do a straight-up hip-hop record [To Pimp A Butterfly].

“He threw everything on there, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do. The goal, in many, many ways, was to avoid rock & roll.”

Lazarus hit broadway last week, with reviewers noting how slightly bonkers the whole thing was, Rolling Stone calling it a “surrealistic tour de force”.

★ is out 8 January 2016, marking Bowie’s 69th birthday.