Lambeth council are considering naming a street in honour of David Bowie after the "outpouring of affection" following the artist's death.
Bowie, who sadly died in January aged 69, was born and bought up in and around Brixton. The mural, which is situated just over the road from Brixton's tube station, was originally made to mark his work prior to his death. Since January, the mural has become a shrine, constantly being covered in flowers and letters.
The local council have released a statement confirming that they will protect and locally list the mural to ensure its longevity. It is also considering "many suggestions for a permanent memorial, including statues and place naming". The mural is located in Tunstall Place, but the council are considering changing the street name to honour Bowie.
The statement reads: "Lambeth council is set to locally list the David Bowie mural beside Morleys in Brixton that became a shrine to the artist who died in January. Local listing would protect the mural and the council is also considering renaming the area where the mural is in Tunstall Place. The council is in contact with Bowie’s family about the many suggestions for a permanent memorial, including statues and place naming."
Lib Peck, the leader of Lambeth council, said: "It is ultimately the family’s decision as to what may be appropriate. We must respect that and be patient. Lambeth residents have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection visibly demonstrated by floral tributes, messages and people visiting the Bowie mural to pay their respects to this unique ‘Brixton boy’."
"We are also in contact with the Bowie fan club and other Brixton organisations who want to honour the memory and legacy of this extraordinary artist. We will share any word we get from his family that will determine what we do next."
Three years since their last studio release, Biffy Clyro have announced details of their upcoming album and have premiered a new single.
The album, 'Ellipsis', is the follow up to the band's 2013's double album 'Opposites' and will be released on July 8th via Warner Bros Records and 14th Floor Recordings. This is definitely a date to stick in the diary.
The first single from the album is 'Wolves of Winter'- you can check it out below. Zane Lowe premiered the song on Beats 1 where he caught up with the band.
Speaking to Lowe, singer Simon Neil said: "We’re saying something new with our seventh album... We’re trying to feel like it’s our first album again. We’ve still got balls. We’re still here to get in your face.”
Neil also spoke about the new album to NME, saying that it will sound as "fucked up" as possible, describing the record as "the best one we've made".
"For the first time ever we’ve been messing around properly with programming, so rather than making the heavy parts heavy with guitars and distortion, we’re trying to find different ways to make things intense," he continued.
"It’ll be leaner and meaner than the last – no orchestras," he added. "This album is going to be the opposite of cinematic. If the last records were kind of Ridley Scott, then this one is more John Waters. It’s quite dirty! We’ve taken a lot of influence from recent hip-hop records, like the latest A$AP Rocky – they’re so fucking good because they’ve got really grimy, dirty, horrible sounds with beautiful vocals, or vice versa. We’re trying to get that balance of things teetering on the edge of chaos the entire time. It’s going to sound like Biffy, but it’s about ‘rocking’ instead of ‘rock’."
Neil then described the album as the start of a new chapter: "For me, the first three albums we made were lo-fi, angular prog-metal and the last three were big-boy records – big, important music. This one is just embracing the chaos. This is the first one where we’ve been feeling our way in the dark a little. I think that’s exciting. This is probably the pre-teen album! The reboot."
"It’s the first album where I’ve tried to come out fighting, give the people who’ve upset me a bit of what-for. I feel like this one is me saying that I know who I am, here are my strengths, here are my flaws, it is what it is... It’s fight rock, pint-in-the-face rock."
The statement reads: "Lambeth council is set to locally list the David Bowie mural beside Morleys in Brixton that became a shrine to the artist who died in January. Local listing would protect the mural and the council is also considering renaming the area where the mural is in Tunstall Place. The council is in contact with Bowie’s family about the many suggestions for a permanent memorial, including statues and place naming."
