Bryan Ferry has released a new song—his first original composition since 2014’s Avonmore—that, per a press release, began as a “sketch” by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, before Ferry and guest singer Amelia Barratt completed it. Watch the video for “Star,” directed by Ferry and James Garzke and starring Barratt, below. It is the sole new and original song to appear on the Roxy Music frontman’s compilation Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023, out October 5.
Since Avonmore, Ferry has recorded covers, sometimes of himself, for various projects. He also appeared on Todd Terje’s It’s Album Time cover of Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary,” which closes the fifth and final disc of Retrospective. The album announcement came with a cover of Bob Dylan’s 1965 song “She Belongs to Me.”
Speaking about “Star” and his collaboration with Barratt, who is a painter and writer, Ferry said in a press release, “A couple of years ago I helped her record an audiobook here in my studio. I was very impressed by her writing, and this is the first song we did together. I’m very excited about this new work—there’s a lot more to come.”
