Neil Young has announced a new album titled “Before and After”. The 13-track LP will arrive on December 8th and will feature solo acoustic re-recordings of songs from throughout Young’s catalogue. There’s also one previously unreleased track, “If You Got Love.”
Set to arrive on December 8th via Reprise Records, the album will see Young structure the trac-klist so that the songs blend together and create one continuous flow from beginning to end.
“The feeling is captured, not in pieces, but as a whole piece — designed to be listened to that way,” said Young of the new album. “This music presentation defies shuffling, digital organisation, separation. Only for listening. That says it all.” “Songs from my life, recently recorded, create a music montage with no beginnings or endings,” Young said in a statement posted to the album’s preorder page.
Neil Young’s new release called ‘Before & After’, out now via Reprise. But instead of writing and recording a batch of new material, the singer-songwriter took a cue from the Taylor Swift playbook, re-recording select songs from throughout his career. ‘Before & After’ is described as “a trip into his music history,” with Neil having picked some of his own favourite songs from his catalogue to re-visit. It’ll mostly be solo acoustic re-recordings, sequenced so its 13 songs blend seamlessly together from front to back.
“The feeling is captured, not in pieces, but as a whole piece — designed to be listened to that way,” Neil said in a statement. “This music presentation defies shuffling, digital organization, separation. Only for listening. That says it all.”
Tracks in the album include his earliest Buffalo Springfield appearance, ‘Burned’, and his more recent track ‘Don’t Forget Love’, taken from 2021’s ‘Barn’. The previously unreleased song titled ‘If You Got Love’ is featured too.
Neil Young recently broke his four-year touring hiatus. Over the summer, he embarked on a solo acoustic tour of the West Coast in which he performed songs he had never played live before.
“I don’t want to come back and do the same songs again,” Young said at the time . “I’ll feel like I was on some sort of carnival ride. I’d rather be doing these other songs I haven’t done. … I won’t have to compare how I’m doing ‘Heart of Gold’ to [how I played it in] 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020.”
“It’s over. The old days are gone,” he said in a message posted to his Neil Young Archives website. “Artists have to worry about ripped-off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers.”
So far, no further tour dates have been announced, and Young has emphasized that performing live in today’s industry is strenuous for both artists and concertgoers. “Before And After’ was produced by the singer-songwriter, alongside Lou Adler. Young took on the role of mixing the album too with the help of Niko Bolas – recognised as The Volume Dealers.
Neil Young teamed with legendary producer Lou Adler (The Mamas and The Papas, Carole King’s Tapestry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show) for an album unlike any other he’s recorded. “Before and After” features Young revisiting some of the lesser-known gems in his discography, arranging them into a 48-minute suite meant to played continuously. The sequence is career-spanning, from his first Buffalo Springfield appearance “Burned” through “Don’t Forget Love” from 2021’s “Barn”. One previously unreleased song, “If You Got Love,” debuts. The album will be available in four formats: vinyl LP; clear vinyl LP (available only from independent record stores and Young’s Greedy Hand online store),
Neil Young recently posted a New Year’s thank-you message on his official website to those who helped him out in various aspects of his life and career in 2023. Nested in the note was a news tidbit that should excite fans—the folk-rock legend will be mounting a new tour in 2024.
In addition, Young expressed his gratitude for producer Lou Adler for co-producing his latest studio album, “Before and After”, with me. He added, I love that album. “It feels good to me.”
Before and After was released this past December 8. The album is a collection of newly recorded stripped-down acoustic renditions of 13 songs from throughout Young’s 50-plus-year career. The album boasts a mix of deep cuts and better-known tunes.
On Thanksgiving, a couple weeks prior to the release of “Before and After”, Neil Young premiered a new video dubbed “Stand for Peace.” The clip featured him performing a solo instrumental version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” reminiscent of the one Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock in 1969.
2023 also saw Young return to the stage after a three-year hiatus. His Coastal Tour 2023 featured 15 concerts, running from a June 30 performance in Los Angeles through a July 24 show in Stateline, Nevada.
Young also performed at Stephen Stills’ Light Up the Blues to Benefit Autism charity show on April 22 in L.A., and at the 2023 Farm Aid concert on September 23 in Noblesville, Indiana.
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