‘Where Are We Now?’ marks the return of one of the music industries most respected artists, a man who has been missing from the music scene since 2006, sparking rumours that ill-health had put David Bowie out of action and leaving us wonder when we would see the star back on top. Well, almost 10 years later, we have been treated to Bowie’s first single to be released in a decade.

David Bowie, whose fame went global in the late 60s with the highly celebrated and influential ‘Space Oddity’, announced the news via the web this morning, stating that the single, ‘Where Are We Now?’, will be closely followed by a new album called ‘The Next Day’, both of which are released on Bowie's label Iso Records.

Fans and admirers who have already listened to the track will note that the vocals of Bowie seem older and that the lyrics are rather melancholic, more so than maybe what we have heard from him before. Well, it’s certainly something that wouldn’t be found on the soundtrack for the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth, directed by famed puppeteer Jim Henson.

The video, directed by Tony Oursler, that accompanies the single echoes the bleakness of the track, opting for low-production, staging David Bowie as just a face projected onto a crude sculpture of a couple sitting down. Behind the couple, there is a screen, showing a montage of video clips that is comprised of various locations that allude to Bowie’s time in Berlin, eventually revealing footage of Bowie standing in the same room as the sculpture and screen.

‘Where Are We Now?’, produced by Tony Visconti, was made available to download at 5am GMT on iTunes and the new album ‘The Next Day’, which will be his 30th studio album, will be released in March and can be preordered. A spokesman said that the recording appeared ‘as if out of no where’, surprising those who has worked closely with Bowie before… a trait that we are familiar with when it comes to the legendary musician.

Where Are We Now? is available on Iso Records now