The reference point for our A/W 22 collection entitled “Low” is the infamous Berlin Trilogy by David Bowie. The three albums Low, heroes and Lodger where all composed in the 1970’s whilst Bowie was living in Berlin.
The aforementioned albums came of the back of a tumultuous personal time for Bowie, who had suffered from drug addiction whilst living in LA. Bowie cowrote these albums with Brian Eno and was influenced by Krautrock a popular German style as well as Eno’s own ambient releases.
The first album of the trilogy “Low” experiments with a variety of sounds including electronic, ambient, art rock and experimental. The album can be separated into to parts the first consisting of pop song fragments and the 2nd longer instrumental tracks. Bowies record label RCA upon hearing the album feared it would be a commercial flop and delayed the release. Despite a lack of promotion from Bowie or the Label the album received widespread commercial acclaim. Around the time of this albums release Bowie toured with Iggy Pop as a keyboard player.
The next album of the trilogy “Heroes” features an art rock/experimental vibe. The album has been described as more uplifting in tone than low, perhaps signifying a shift in the icons outlook as he progressed further into recovery. Eno’s influence on this album was greater than in “Low” and is credited with being co-director on 10 of the albums songs. The pair during production for this album would use monopoly style chance cards to spark creative ideas.
The final album “Lodgers” abandoned the electric and ambient style of the previous two albums with the album instead featuring more conventional song structures. The album features a variety of styles including krautrock, reggae, new wave and middle eastern. This album’s production put an even greater emphasis on the monopoly style chance cards which can be credited for the albums diverse sound. The album is said to feature to major themes “travel” both metaphorical and physical and criticism of western culture.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this run down of the Berlin trilogy. To see our interpretation of Bowies style during this era click here.
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