As of a few months ago, Neil Young was mastering his forthcoming album on the full moon. In April, Young shared that he was cooking up the follow-up to last year's Talkin' to the Trees at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu with his backing band, the Chrome Hearts. Soon after, Young shared the album's title, Second Song. Today, he's returned with more information about the project, including the title track and its Sep. 18 release date.
The album is comprised of newly written material and unreleased tracks from 1963 that Young revisited. "Second Song," a slow, meandering track that clocks in at over 11 minutes, doesn't seem to be one of the rediscovered songs.
Young contributes vocals, upright piano, acoustic and electric guitar, vibes, mellotron, marxophone, and harmonica. Credits for the Chrome Hearts include Anthony LoGerfo on drums and wave drum, Corey McCormick on bass and vocals, Micah Nelson on electric guitar and vocals, and Spooner Oldham on Hammond B3 organ, Farfisa organ, pump organ, piano, mellotron, and vibes. That last one is important.
Lyrically there's a lot happening here. Young compares generations ("Their moms and dads remembered cause they had seen a different time/ A time of sunny mornings/ Walking to school and saving dimes") and sings about the creative process ("I heard a melody and a rhyme/ I knew the song was over, but I couldn't find the time/ The words just tumbled forward/ In this second song of mine"). That last line is where we get the album's title.
There's lots of harmonica solos, a verse about a sea captain that thinks he sees a mermaid, and another about birds hatching, flying, and adding their music to the sky. Listen to "Second Song" below.
Second Song is out 9/18 via Reprise Records. Pre-order here. Preceding this news, Young also shared remixed tracks from his 20-year-old LP Living With War.
