In general, there are three main reasons why an artist might sound uncannily like another artist:

The Cash In. Artist X becomes popular and Artist Y decides to try and ride the coattails and scoop up some of Artist X’s audience.

The Nurture. Both artists hail from the same region and are about the same age.

The Tribute. Artist Y grew up listening to Artist X and wants to emulate the music they grew up loving.

As a child of the 70s living in Scotland, it’s not surprising that Chris Connelly developed an affinity for Scott Walker, T. Rex, and David Bowie; however, he spent the 1980s playing guitar in a number of in-your-face, industrial-metal-dance bands such as Revolting Cocks and Ministry. Given a chance to record his first solo albums in the early 90s, Connelly was finally free to sound nothing like the bands he worked with for his main gigs; whereas those bands were loud and modern, Connelly’s records harkened back to a more melodic and song-oriented time.

After a few years of non-stop touring and recording — both with his bands and solo — Connelly began a long break beginning in 1992 after the death of his girlfriend. He took the time to catch his breath and, as his 30th birthday wasn’t too far over the horizon, reflected on his perhaps overly rambunctious 20s.

In 1994, ready to get back to work, Connelly released Shipwreck, his third solo album. He had never shied away from his influences, and you can hear echoes of Scott Walker and The Beatles here, but he leaned hard into Bowie with the title track, recording a song that sounds remarkably like the Thin White Duke circa 1975/76.

Connelly has released about 25 albums in the intervening years, but Shipwreck remains a peak, and a fitting tribute to those who inspired him.