Written by: David Bowie
Recorded: 2 May; July 2011; 26 August 2013
Producers: David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Engineers: Mario McNulty, Tony Visconti
Released: 4 November 2013
Available on:
The Next Day Extra
Personnel
David Bowie: vocals, guitar, piano, keyboardsGerry Leonard, David Torn, Earl Slick: guitar
Gail Ann Dorsey: bass guitar
Zachary Alford: drums
Alex Alexander: percussion
Erin Tonkon: vocals
‘Atomica’ is the first bonus track on The Next Day Extra, the expanded edition of David Bowie’s penultimate album.
Gerry Leonard and David Torn swirl madly around each other’s styles. Gail Ann Dorsey is poppin’ the bass and Zach Alford is on drums, slamming away.
The Complete David Bowie, Nicholas Pegg
In the studio
The backing track for ‘Atomica’ was recorded at New York’s Magic Shop studio on 2 May 2011, the first day of sessions for The Next Day. It was then left until July when a number of overdubs were added including Earl Slick’s guitar.
‘Atomica’ remained incomplete at the close of the album sessions, and David Bowie’s lead vocals were recorded on 26 August 2013.
Some songs, like ‘Atomica’, needed more work and were assigned to the back burner intentionally for future releases… [It] could’ve been a highlight of The Next Day had we finished it back then.
The Complete David Bowie, Nicholas Pegg
The release
The Next Day Extra was released on 4 November 2013. The box set contained two CDs and a DVD.
The first CD was of the standard album, while the second disc contained the additional tracks ‘Atomica’, ‘Plan’, ‘The Informer’, ‘Like A Rocket Man’, ‘Born In A UFO’, ‘I’ll Take You There’, ‘God Bless The Girl’, and ‘So She’, as well as two remixes: ‘Love Is Lost’ (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA) and ‘I’d Rather Be High’ (Venetian Mix).