Dear Friend,

10 years ago today, we lost David Bowie.

10 years and two days ago, Bowie's final album 'Blackstar' was released. I bought it the day it came out, and had listened to it 4 to 5 times in the two days before the news of his death broke. That must have been enough for me to subconsciously absorb its central message- when I heard he had passed, my reaction was the opposite of surprised, if that's possible. The immediate thought was something like 'Oh - that makes sense I guess. NOW I get it.'

And 10 years minus two days ago, I was lucky enough to be in the audience when Tony Visconti and 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 let it slip on social media that I'm about to release a Bowie cover. I'd hoped to bring it out today but it's still not ready - recording is done, but the mix is getting polished, and I've found it's better not to rush these things.

But since you're on the mailing list, I'll share a little bit about it with you pre-release.

First - this is a deep cut, not one of the hits. The song is 'No Control' and it's from an album he made in 1995 called 'Outside' - a period in which Bowie was experimenting again after he'd gotten tired of being a mainstream 'pop star.' This was around when he connected with Trent Reznor as well, so while it's not one of his bigger records, for a lot of musicians in the goth/industrial scene, it's a pretty big deal. At the time, the 'Outside' album absolutely blew my mind- I listened to that CD until it completely degraded.

When I first thought of covering 'No Control' a few years ago, I played the original to Sky and he said it sounded like a Double Eyelid song! For one reason and another we didn't do it then- but I feel like it works as a release right now. Musically, the bass groove in the original transfers well to a more modern darkwave sound and lyrically - it's a sentiment I connect with on a deeply personal level, and one that has broader overtones that seem to fit these uncertain times.

Normally this is where I'd put a pre-release link - but not this time, we're still working on it. Just felt like sharing these thoughts on Bowie with you on his anniversary as I get this finished. Keep an eye on your inbox for when it drops.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

IF YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - thank you. There's something else I want to tell you.

If you've followed this project for awhile, you might have noticed a shift in the energies around here over the last six months or so.

Double Eyelid is now and has always been an art-first endeavour. It's guided solely by whatever I am compelled to express. We don't pursue trends, we run away from them.

Over the years, we've released a lot less music than I would have liked. There's a number of reasons behind this - as an independent artist, I've always had to juggle recording and performing with earning money through other means and taking care of a family. Time spent on live shows also competes with recording - gigs have more of an immediate financial and emotional payoff, so it's easy to suddenly realize you've spent a year gigging and didn't remember to record anything 🙃.

Due to some personal life shifts over the last year, I've found that I'm in the studio every day now and getting a lot more work done. We released the Edgar Allan Poe album in October, are about to drop this new single, and have an EP and about 6 other tracks in the works at the moment that I'd like to put out later in 2026. At the same time, the world seems to have gone a bit crazy, and touring seems ill-advised.

So for the first time ever, I'm seriously considering doing a Double Eyelid membership site or Patreon. Getting music professionally mixed and mastered costs money and is hard to cover with Bandcamp sales and Spotify pennies alone. Pressing albums on vinyl, making videos - these would also be great, but are hard to accomplish without support.

If you've read this far, can I ask you - if you were a member of a Double Eyelid Patreon, what would you like it to include? What kind of benefits would you like to get?

Reply and let me know, as this could become a reality soon!

Ian (Double Eyelid)