You may not have known this, but Dexter‘s Michael C. Hall has been starring in David Bowie’s off-Broadway play Lazarus, which features a song of the same name that also appears on Bowie’s upcoming album ★ (or Blackstar). In a clever move to promote both the album–which comes out on Bowie’s 69th birthday, January 8–and the play, Hall guested on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show and performed the song.

Despite his relatively emotionless performance (intentionally so, not a knock on his acting ability) on Dexter, Hall actually pulls of a fantastic Bowie impression. Seriously, here is Bowie’s recording of the song:

Bowie wasn’t present for the performance, but with Hall’s surprising vocal aptitude, it didn’t really matter. Obviously, Hall is no replacement for Bowie, but his ability adds some weight to the promotional video Hall recorded for the episode.

In it, he says he is Bowie himself, lists off the various identities he as adopted throughout the years and claims that he is now “in my most outlandish persona yet, acclaimed actor Michael C. Hall,” which he achieved due to some plastic surgery “ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!” One thing that hasn’t changed is the cold, sociopathic Dexter stare we have come to miss since the series wrapped up.

Bold promotional tactics seem in line with what is shaping up to be an experimental album. Bowie has previously said that ★ drew inspiration from Kendrick Lamar, experimental noise rap group Death Grips, Boards of Canada, and featured percussion from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (who also made a fantastic remix of Bowie’s “Love Is Lost”).

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HT: Pitchfork

Featured image courtesy of David Bowie