"Lazarus," the next single from David Bowie's upcoming Blackstar album, isn't scheduled to arrive until Dec. 17, but he's giving fans a glimpse of the track ahead of time.

Admittedly, it isn't a large glimpse — as you can hear above, the teaser Bowie's posted runs a mere 15 seconds — but it's enough to establish the song's serious tone (as evidenced by the downbeat arrangement and the lyrical couplet "Look up here, I'm in heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen") while suggesting it's slightly more of a straight-ahead number than the title track, which dropped a month ago, along with a short film, as the record's first single.

As Bowie fans are undoubtedly aware, "Lazarus" is also the title of his upcoming stage project, which revisits the 1963 Walter Tevis novel The Man Who Fell to Earth — previously adapted into a 1976 film starring Bowie — to tell the story of Thomas Newton, an alien who "remains on Earth, a man unable to die, his head soaked in cheap gin, and haunted by a past love." The play, which stars Dexter vet Michael C. Hall, has already previewed to strong reviews; according to Deadline, it combines "a work of blistering nihilism, no small sum of inscrutable foolishness and a fistful of the most brilliant contemporary rock you will hear anywhere."

While "Lazarus" is pulling double duty on Blackstar and on the stage, fans needn't worry that Bowie's new LP is a glorified soundtrack: according to the Guardian, this is the only song on the album that comes from the play. Check it out above and try to remain patient for the full-length track Dec. 17.

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