David Bowie's jazzy birthday album his 'oddest work yet'

David Bowie will release a new album to coincide with his 69th birthday in January. Photo / Getty

A David Bowie album to be released on his 69th birthday may be his "oddest work yet".

The 25th offering titled Blackstar is out on January 8- according to British newspaper The Times.

It was recorded with local jazz musicians at the Magic Shop studio in New York, and is his "oddest work yet" according to The Times.

"He's made an album of long, jazzy jams mixed with the kind of driving beat pioneered by Seventies German bands Can and Kraftwerk," wrote Will Hodgkinson.

There are seven songs on the 45 minute album - the title track alone spans 10 minutes.

A shortened version has already been released and was picked up as the theme song to upcoming British TV series The Last Panthers.

It will also feature in Bowie's sold-out musical Lazarus.

Blackstar is Bowie's first new material since 2013 album The Next Day.

Australian fans can see Bowie's costumes, set designs and handwritten lyric sheets at an exhibition in Melbourne.

The Victoria and Albert Museum's David Bowie exhibition is on at the Australian Centre for The Moving Image until November 1.