10 years ± 2 days
Photo by Daniel von Appen, obtained from Unsplash
10 years ago today, we lost David Bowie.
Ten years and two days ago, I bought a copy of his final album Blackstar. Having been immersed in it for two days, when the sad news broke the album suddenly made a different kind of sense.
Two days after that, I was in the crowd when Tony Visconti and some other ex-Bowie band members performed their tribute show in Toronto – their first following his death, it felt like a very special public wake for the man. As a fan I felt extremely honoured to be present, mourning the loss of this great artist together with his closest collaborators.
A few days ago I mentioned on social media that I’m about to release a Bowie cover. I’d hoped to have it out January 10, but it’s still being polished — recording is finished, the mix is nearly there, and it’s worth letting it settle.
Since you’re here, I’ll share a little about it ahead of release.
It’s a deep cut: “No Control,” from Bowie’s 1995 album Outside, a period when he was pushing away from pop stardom and back toward experimentation. It’s not one of his ‘big ones’ but for a lot of musicians in the goth/industrial orbit, that record is a touchstone. The bass-driven tension of “No Control” transfers naturally to a more modern darkwave sound, and the lyric’s sense of unease feels especially resonant right now. A collaborator once said it already sounded like a Double Eyelid song, which stayed with me – this finally feels like the right time to make it happen.
Normally this is where a pre-release link would go, but not quite yet. Keep an eye out — it’s close.
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If you’ve been following Double Eyelid for a while, you may have noticed a shift in the energy of the project over the last six months.
Double Eyelid is, and always has been, an art-first endeavour — guided by what I’m compelled to make rather than by trends. The work moves at its own pace, and releases have been irregular by design. Lately, though, the project has entered a studio-focused phase: the Edgar Allan Poe album came out in October, this single is about to land, and there’s an EP plus several new tracks in development for later in 2026.
Sustained studio work — along with professional mixing, mastering, and eventually physical releases — requires more predictable support than streaming or one-off sales can provide. For the first time, I’m seriously considering a Double Eyelid membership or Patreon as a way to make that kind of continuity possible.
If this sounds interesting, I’d love to hear what would make a Double Eyelid membership valuable to you. Comments are open below.
Ian (Double Eyelid)
