David Bowie’s lost 2001 album ‘Toy’ finally set to be released

David Bowie‘s notorious ‘lost’ 2001 album ‘Toy’ is set to finally get an official release.

The album features re-recorded and revamped versions of some of Bowie’s earliest tracks. It was due to be released as a follow-up to 1999’s ‘Hours…’ but was shelved after a dispute between Bowie and his then-label Virgin.

Back in 2011, the album leaked online and now a decade later it will see an official release as part of Bowie’s new Era Five box set, full details of which are coming later today (September 29).

“Depending where you are on the planet, if it’s 29th September you might be streaming the radio edit of ‘You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving’ from the forthcoming ‘Toy’ album, via your favourite streaming service,” Bowie’s official Twitter account wrote. “More details regarding that and the rest of the Era Five box, later today.”

Listen to the radio edit of ‘You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving’ below:

The news of the new release comes just after the estate of David Bowie has agreed a new deal with Warner Music Group that will see the company overseeing his full back catalogue of albums.

Warner Music previously held the worldwide rights to the music that was released by the late artist between 1968 and 1999 (up to his October 1999 album ‘hours…’) after they acquired the Parlophone Label Group in 2013.

This new licensing agreement with Bowie’s estate now means that Warner Music also has the rights to the artist’s back catalogue of music between 2000 and 2016, the year of his death.

The Bowie albums ‘Heathen’, ‘Reality’, ‘The Next Day’ and ‘★’ (AKA ‘Blackstar’) are among the works that will come into the Warner Music fold in 2023. They were originally released via Sony Music.