The release
‘Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)’ was the lead single from David Bowie’s 2014 compilation Nothing Has Changed, released on 17 November 2014.
The song had its premiere on BBC Radio 6 Music on 12 October, on Elbow frontman Guy Garvey’s show.
‘Sue’ was released as a digital download on 17 November, and was issued as a 10″ vinyl single on the same day in the United Kingdom.
In the USA, a 10″ single with different artwork was issued on 28 November, for the Black Friday version of Record Store Day.
The album features Bowie’s first new music since he stunned the world with the critically lauded ‘THE NEXT DAY’. The new single ‘SUE (or IN A SEASON OF CRIME)’ was especially recorded for NOTHING HAS CHANGED with long time collaborator Tony Visconti and will be released as a digital download the same day as the album and as a Record Store Day exclusive 10″ single on November 28th.
The single contained the full 7:24 recording with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. On the b-side was a 4:01 radio edit, and Bowie’s demo recording of ‘’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore’, on which he played every instrument. The radio edit cut ‘Sue’ from eight verses to six, omitting the final two.
The Blackstar album was released on 8 January 2016. ‘Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)’ was its fourth song, sequenced between ‘Lazarus’ and ‘Girl Loves Me’.
The video
A monochrome video for ‘Sue’ was released on 15 November 2014, two days ahead of the single release.
It was directed by Tom Hingston, who had previously assembled a promo for The Next Day’s ‘I’d Rather Be High’, and later directed the ‘No Plan’ video.
The ‘Sue’ video contained new scenes shot by Hingston, in addition to footage by Jimmy King of Bowie performing with the Maria Schneider Orchestra in July 2014.
