David Bowie’s The Next Day is one of the year’s most anticipated albums, and now fans can feel a part of the album in an interactive way via Facebook.

The album’s cover looks just like that of Bowie’s 1977 album, Heroes, with the addition of a strategically-placed white box reading, The Next Day. Now Facebook users can be just like Bowie by putting the white box reading The Next Day in front of any of their pictures. All you have to do is go to Bowie’s website and click on the “connect using Facebook” app.

Speaking of The Next Day cover, its designer Jonathan Barnbrook took to his blog to explain the use of the Heroes cover in a new way.

“We wanted to do something different with it – very difficult in an area where everything has been done before – but we dare to think this is something new. Normally using an image from the past means, ‘recycle’ or ‘greatest hits’ but here we are referring to the title The Next Day. The “Heroes” cover obscured by the white square is about the spirit of great pop or rock music, which is ‘of the moment’, forgetting or obliterating the past.”

Barnbrook writes on: “If you are going to subvert an album by David Bowie there are many to choose from but this is one of his most revered, it had to be an image that would really jar if it were subverted in some way and we thought “Heroes” worked best on all counts. Also the new album is very contemplative and the “Heroes” cover matched this mood. The song ‘Where Are We Now?’ is a comparison between Berlin when the wall fell and Berlin today. Most people know of Bowie’s heritage in Berlin and we want people to think about the time when the original album was produced and now.”

Bowie is set to release The Next Day March 12th, and he’s already released its first single, “Where Are We Now?”. The album was also produced by his longtime producer, Tony Visconti, who promised both a “classic” and “innovative” album.

- Zack Nechvatal & Steven Sheffer, WXRT Chicago

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