Neil Young will return in November with another new album. Coming just months removed from A Letter Home, Storytone serves as its aesthetic counterpart: whereas A Letter Home was recorded in lo-fi (using Jack White’s Voice-O-Graph booth), its follow-up sees Young performing alongside a 92-piece orchestra.
Rumors of the album surfaced earlier this month, when German composer Chris Walden revealed that his next project would be an “upcoming Neil Young album Storytone (out Nov 4).” Subsequently, music contractor Gina Zimmitti posted photos of Young and Walden at work with a full orchestra. Also reportedly involved in the project is Young’s longtime collaborator/producer Niko Bolas, who Zimmitti said was helping Young and Walden to craft “loud big band arrangements.”
In a recent interview with Billboard, Young discussed his vision for an orchestral album:
I’d like to make a record with a full-blown orchestra, live—a mono recording with one mic. … I want to do something like that where we really record what happened, with one point of view and the musicians moved closer and farther away, the way it was done in the past. To me that’s a challenge and it’s a sound that’s unbelievable, and you can’t get it any other way. So I’m into doing that.
To accompany today’s announcement, Young has shared the orchestral version of his recent protest anthem, “Who’s Gonna Stand Up”. Backed by the rumble of overly dramatic strings and bellowing horns, Young’s pleas for prosperity and increased eco-sensitivity are taken to truly grand, anthemic heights.
Listen in below.
