How’s this for an endorsement – David Bowie liked the latest Arcade Fire single, Reflektor, so much that when he heard it being mixed, he threatened to steal it for himself, according to the Canadian outfit’s multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry.
The 35-year-old told NME that the Thin White Duke dropped by the recording studio just after his own album, The Next Day, had been released:
“He basically just came by the studio in New York while we were mixing, just to have a listen to the stuff we were doing. He offered to lend us his services because he really liked the song. In fact, he basically threatened us – he was like, ‘If you don’t hurry up and mix this song, I might just steal it from you!'”
But Parry said the Montreal indie superstars had a better idea for Bowie, saying, “…We thought, well why don’t we go one better, why don’t you sing on our version? Thankfully he obliged, and we were really happy about that.” And that, folks, is how you get David frickin’ Bowie to sing back-up vocals on your single.
The 66-year-old has had plenty of his own success this year, with The Next Day, his first album in over a decade, the bookies odds-on favourite to win this year’s Mercury Prize. Arcade Fire are set to release their full-length, also entitled Reflektor, on 29th October, with a headlining Big Day Out tour of Australia taking place next January.
(via 405)
