“I’m older now / but I’m still dreaming…” Neil Young declares on new romantic back-room blues jam ‘Shape Of You’. It’s a line that could easily define the ageing hippy, a true original who’s never wavered from the path of authenticity, sticking firmly to values of peace and love through the most troubled of times.
Such themes are never far from his heart on 41st studio album (and 14th album with long-serving band Crazy Horse) which was – fittingly enough – recorded in a converted barn high up in the Rockies. Opener ‘Song Of The Seasons‘ suggests that the magical scenery made quite the impact on the world-weary environmentalist. After a soul-striking harmonica and chords that can only come from Neil Young, he sweetly sings: “Looking through a wavy glass window / In this old place by the lake… I see that nature makes no mistake.”
Raw and rugged at every turn, the album captures the telepathic bond that these rock’n’roll renegades have cultivated over the years. ‘Heading West’ lurches in with grunge guitars – Young pioneered the genre in the late ’80s – burning with both energy and optimism. As young sings of the good old days of fishing at the mill as a little boy, buying his first guitar and heading west, it’s a reflective and heartwarming anthem.
His wisdom beams bright throughout; on the rollicking ‘Human Race’, he asks: “Who’s gonna save the human race / Where are all the children gonna run and hide?”
Posted from: https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/neil-young-crazy-horse-barn-review-3114106
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