Neil Young confirms he’s finished his new album, includes songs he wrote in 1963
Neil Young has announced that he’s finished work on his new album with the Chrome Hearts, produced by Rick Rubin.
Young made the announcement in a new update on his Neil Young Archives website, after having previously talked about getting much of the legwork done on his new album in a separate post made in March.
When discussing producing the record with Rick Rubin, Young has said that three of the songs that he is working on date back to his time working with his first band in the early 1960s, saying, “We were then out of songs. We needed more. The next morning I had a song going through my head and I was playing it. I checked it out in the archives and found it was from 1963, unreleased.”
Young continued, “There were more. I found three others with it … also unreleased! Three 60 year old songs and five brand new ones! We finished mixing and assembling one month later on the next full full moon… April 1st. It was fast.”
Based on the timeline, these would likely have been songs from the first band that Young had joined, The Squires, when he was still living in Winnipeg, Canada. Young had joined the band in the early 1960s before making friends with Stephen Stills on the road and eventually forming the nucleus of Buffalo Springfield.
He added of the new album, “I cannot wait for you to hear it and I hope it gives you what it gives me. It’s coming soon…but first.”
Young then confirmed details of his new live album with the Chrome Hearts, titled As Time Explodes, which will arrive before his next studio record. It was recorded on tour across Europe and the USA last year, which he says includes “unique versions of songs both old and new.”
In a prior blog post about the new studio album, Young felt that his music was bringing him a sense of calm, saying, “I love the songs and the feelings of life and love. Music is. So far we have eight new songs. They make me feel.”
While Young has not said if there is a set date when the album will come out, he has promised that it will arrive sometime “in the summer.” As Young awaits the finished album artwork, he also stated that the record would be a complete analogue original.
Despite Young taking time away from the touring cycle after cancelling his tour of Europe and the UK, he said that he was thankful to be able to play with a band like the Chrome Hearts at this point in his career.
As it stands, the new album is yet to receive a title or release date.
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