Neil Young is preparing to let the Crazy Horse out of the barn. The rock icon and his long-running power trio announced on Wednesday (Oct. 13) that their follow-up to 2019’s Colorado, named Barn, will drop on Dec. 10. In a statement posted on the Neil Young Archives site, the singer/guitarist wrote, “Barn is very special. It rocks. It rolls… I wish it was out now. It’s got songs that are part of these times.”
Archives subscribers are getting a sneak preview of the of the opening track, “Song of the Seasons,” which Young notes was recorded “high in the Rockies” on June 21 using the Le Mobile Recording Studio. Young said the six-minute acoustic ballad “Seasons” is the oldest song on the record, written in Oct. 2020 it has more of a Young solo album vibe than the typical meandering, noisy Crazy Horse electric jam.
The track, which features Young on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Nils Lofgren on accordion and vocals, Billy Talbot on bass/vocals and Ralph Molina on drums/vocals features the lines: “Lookin’ through a wavy glass window/ In this old place by the lake/ In the colors of the falling leaves/ I see that nature makes no mistake,” as well as the pandemic-inspired couplet, “Lookin’ through this clear vinyl window/ At the city and its lights/ Masked people walkin’ everywhere/ It’s humanity in my sights.”
Young, who has stayed off the road this year after referring to concerts as “super-spreader events” in the midst of the summer Delta variant surge, tipped his hat to the new album in June when he wrote on Archive that “we are so happy to be back in the barn, a barn built to replicate the 1850s barn that had collapsed in exactly the same place, high in the mountains of Colorado!”
The tracklist for Barn:
“Song of the Seasons”
“Heading West”
“Change Ain’t Never Gonna”
“Canerican”
“Shape of You”
“They Might Be Lost”
“Human Race”
“Tumblin’ Thru the Years”
“Welcome Back”
“Don’t Forget Love”
