Neil Young and Crazy Horse share stirring new single, Song Of The Seasons

Neil Young
(Image credit: Gus Stewart/Redferns)

A mere day after Neil Young announced he was once again teaming up with his trusty backing band Crazy Horse for a new album, Barn, the rock ‘n’ roll veteran has now shared the record’s lead single, Song Of The Seasons.

The track is the first to be lifted from the upcoming follow-up to Young’s 2019 effort, Colorado, and is also set to be Barn’s album opener.

Young, with the help of his Crazy Horse compadres – bass guitar player Billy Talbot, drummer Ralph Molina and guitarist Nils Lofgren – delivers the folk rock goodness he's legendary for on the song, which you can check out below.

An emotive introduction, conjured up by way of some sweet harmonica melodies, Young’s delicate six-string strums and Lofgren’s subtle accordion flourishes, kicks off proceedings, with the band’s stripped-back instrumentation swelling and swarming as the track gallops to its finale.

Of the track, Young commented (via the Neil Young Archives), “This is the first track of Barn, our new album with Crazy Horse. It’s the oldest song on the record, written about this time last year.”

Discussing the album’s conception in an earlier post published in June, Young wrote, “These are new times, with new songs and feelings after what our world has been through and continues to face.

“This music we are making for our souls. It’s like fresh water on a desert. Life is going on.”

Neil Young and the Crazy Horse crew will be joined on the credit list by Niko Bolas – Young’s production partner in The Volume Dealers – who helped record the album, according to a statement, “under a full moon, in a restored off-grid 19th century barn high up in the Rockies.”

As well as the 10-track album, Young will also release a Daryl Hannah-directed film of the same name, which will “capture this legendary band in their element – in the world, their easy humor, their brotherhood, their humanity."

Barn will be available in a variety of digital and physical formats, with those who purchase deluxe box sets also receiving six behind-the-scenes photographs of the band.

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Matt Owen

Matt is a Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.