[Cover photo credit to Joshua Reynolds]
Reggae group Easy Star All-Stars have shared “Moonage Daydream,” the newest single from their upcoming album Ziggy Stardub, a reggae reimagining of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars. It arrives on April 21, 2023 via Easy Star Records.
The new single features vocals by Naomi Cowan and closes with a cosmic guitar solo by Alex Lifeson of Rush. It includes a full string section and a flute solo from Jenny Hill, replacing Bowie’s recorder from the original track.
Michael Goldwasser, producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist of the band says:
This has been my favorite tune on the Bowie album since I first started listening as a teenager. In light of that, it’s interesting that it’s the song that I changed most radically by simplifying the chord progression and pedaling on one bass line for the entire track, which gives it somewhat of a hypnotic effect and roots it in reggae tradition.
Easy Star All-Stars will also be playing an album release show to celebrate Ziggy Stardub on Thursday, April 20th, 2023 at Sony Hall in New York City. The 420 show (an annual tradition for the All-Stars in their hometown) will also feature special guests Sister Carol and Cannabis Cup Band, with more to be announced. The band will also be performing at the Sea.Hear.Now music festival in New Jersey later this year.
Ziggy Stardub features guest performances by Macy Gray, Steel Pulse, Maxi Priest, Fishbone, Vernon Reid (Living Colour), The Skints, Mortimer, The Expanders, Samory I, and many others.
The band have toured in over 30 countries on 6 continents, bringing together fans of Reggae, Classic Rock, Dub, and Indie Rock into one big family. Previous releases of the band’s long standing collection of tribute albums include Dub Side of the Moon (2003), a reggae re-working of Radiohead’s OK Computer, Radiodread (2006), Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009), and Easy Star’s Thrillah (2012), as well as the remix album Dubber Side of the Moon (2010).
The All-Stars have also released two original collections, Until That Day EP (2008) and First Light (2011).
