Tony Visconti has told David Bowie fans that his new single, 'Where Are We Now?' isn't necessarily representative of the other music he'll be releasing this year.

“It’s maybe the only track on the album that goes this much inward for him,” the producer tells the BBC. “I thought to myself: ‘Why is David coming out with this very slow, albeit beautiful, ballad? He should come out with a bang.’

“But David is a master of his own life. I think this was a very smart move, linking the past with the future, and I think the next thing you hear from him is going to be quite different.”

‘Where Are We Are Now?’ is the first taster from The Next Day, the still-Thin White Duke’s 30th studio album, which was recorded covertly last year in New York.

“We never spent more than two to three weeks at a time recording," Visconti reveals. “Usually we'd work on one or two songs in an afternoon, and whip them into shape so they'd sound like great rock tracks. That's the way I've been working with David since The Man Who Sold The World and he hasn't really changed in his approach.”

Having rested up for almost a decade, it appears that the Brixton boy appears to be fighting fit.

“We all know he had a health scare in 2003/2004, but David is extremely healthy, he's rosy-cheeked and he smiles a lot,” Visconti concludes. “He still has that power in that chest and in his voice. When he starts singing I have to back off, and go into another room and just leave him in front of a microphone.”

There could well be Irish involvement, with Dublin-born, New York-domiciled guitar player Gerry Leonard a Bowie band regular before his boss embarked on his sabbatical.