After introducing audiences to the Chrome Hearts on stage last year, Neil Young has released his studio debut with his new backing band, “big change”. Stylized in all lower-case, neil young and the chrome hearts recorded the song with ’60s producer Lou Adler at Rick Rubin‘s Shangri-La studio in Malibu, CA.
When Young abruptly canceled his tour with Crazy Horse last year, subsequently assembled the Chrome Hearts, and proceeded to stage shows more reliant on his softer folk material than his hard-edged Crazy Horse catalog, fans may have gotten the impression that Neil was getting tired of the grungy stuff. The opening squeal of distortion and answering crash of cymbals on “big change” immediately dispel that notion, shooting the Chrome Hearts out of both barrels with high-gain power chords that sound closer to Sleep than Rust Never Sleeps.
Lyrically, Young warns that “big change is coming” and it “could be bad and could be good.” The song happened to arrive on the Friday before Donald Trump‘s presidential inauguration, and—given Young’s longstanding outspokenness against the 45th-turned-47th U.S. president—the timing seems less than coincidental. Considering that Young became a U.S. citizen to vote against Trump, it’s surprising to hear him open to the possibility that the change coming “could be good.” Then again, that’s easy to say for a man with dual citizenship.
The Chrome Hearts features guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony Logerfo, and organist Spooner Oldham. Nelson, McCormick, and Logerfo were members of Lukas Nelson‘s backing band Promise of the Real, which the son of Willie Nelson put on hiatus last year while he focused on solo endeavors. The Promise of the Real had previously toured with Young and recorded The Monsanto Years, The Visitor, and the soundtrack for Daryl Hannah‘s 2018 film Paradox.
Check out the inaugural single from neil young and the chrome hearts, “big change”. While Young doesn’t have a tour scheduled, he is set to play Glastonbury Festival this year after dropping off the lineup and then re-joining. He also saw the new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and was a big fan.
neil young and the chrome hearts — “big change” [Official Video]