David Bowie to release new album Blackstar on his 69th birthday

David Bowie will be releasing a new album on his 69th birthday.

The singer confirmed on his official Facebook page that the album, his 25th, and its lead track will both be called Blackstar.

The single will be released on November 20 while fans will have to wait until January 8 2016 for the whole album to drop.

A snippet of the single, which features Gregorian chanting, has already been released as the theme tune for new Sky Atlantic drama The Last Panthers, a crime thriller featuring John Hurt and Samantha Morton.

The Times reported that the album contains seven songs and spans 45 minutes, with the lead track being 10 minutes in total. The sound is apparently "completely bonkers" and influenced by German bands Kraftwerk and Can.

Bowie's official Facebook post, however, reads: "Contrary to inaccurate reporting on the sound and content of the album, only the following can be confirmed," before stating the release dates and that the single "is not part of David's theatre piece Lazarus".

It had previously been speculated that it would contains songs from Lazarus, a new musical based on Bowie's 1976 sci-fi film The Man Who Fell To Earth.

Bowie's last full studio album, his 24th, was 2013's The Next Day, which reached number one in the UK charts.

It was announced on his 66th birthday and its lead single, Where Are We Now?, released the same day.

The Next Day was his first new album in 10 years, so fans have faced a much shorter wait for Blackstar.