David Bowie Confronts Fame in ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’

Celebrities aren’t usually the ones doing the stalking, but David Bowie re-imagines the role famous people play in other people’s lives in the video accompanying his new single “The Stars (Are Out Tonight).”

Bowie and Tilda Swinton play a nicely settled middle-aged couple whose comfortable existence is upended when a celebrity pair ”“ Saskia De Brauw and Andrej Pejic ”“ follow them home from the grocery store and take over their space, both physical and emotional. The couples’ roles slowly reverse, calling into question exactly what Swinton and Bowie’s characters mean at the market when they agree, “We have a nice life.”

The song starts with a slow, heavy backbeat and guttural guitar that dissolve into a propulsive bassline topped with shards of guitar and atmospheric synthesizers, for an effect reminiscent of vintage Bowie. It’s the second song the singer has released from his upcoming album The Next Day, which is due next month. The first tune, “Where Are We Now?” was moodier and more reflective, with a video that revisited some of the places the singer used to frequent in Berlin in the Seventies.