Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts - Talkin To The Trees
★★★★
REPRISE
Old age has galvanised Neil Young, spurring the singer-songwriter into creative overdrive. Talkin To The Trees, his 46th proper studio album, appears amidst a flood of archival releases, films, and tours. Once his trusty Crazy Horse became too wobbly to ride, Young formed the Chrome Hearts by recruiting most of his other backing group Promise Of The Real, swapping Lukas Nelson for the legendary keyboardist Spooner Oldham, who first played with Neil on 1992’s Harvest Moon.
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READ MORE: Neil Young’s 50 Greatest Songs
Reshuffling his old friends into the Chrome Hearts indicates Young is amenable to changing his plotted course but he’s wary to roam too far from home. With the world outside engulfed in tumult, he’s battened down the hatches, using protest songs as an escape hatch. Let’s Roll Again, a pseudo-sequel to his 9/11-era anthem, is designed as a rallying call for his beloved auto industry, which happens to be at a political crossroads in 2025 thanks to Elon Musk’s presence in the second Trump administration. As the Chrome Hearts lumber forth, Young spits, “If yer a fascist, then get a Tesla” to a melody that mirrors This Land Is Your Land, a song that also echoes through Silver Eagle.
The Woody Guthrie nods, combined with the simplicity of the songs, makes Talkin To The Trees feel as immediate and topical as Living With War. Unlike that Iraqi war missive, this is decidedly not a news bulletin. This is a journal entry, a reflection of Young’s state of mind: mad at the world, he finds nourishment in his family. Despite the din of the Chrome Hearts, Talkin To The Trees is anchored in homespun folk. Its keynote song is Family Life, a tune where he celebrates his offspring by name before singing the praises of his “best wife ever”. His cornball enthusiasm is tempered by First Fire Of Winter and Bottle Of Love, a pair of songs that recall the fireside intimacy of Will To Love.
Young doesn’t deliberately conjure the spirits of the past so much as settle into a comfortable groove with his band. Whenever the group suggests a detour, he won’t turn them down: Dark Mirage galumphs through the garage until it gets subsumed by the ominous undertow of its chorus, while its cousin Movin’ Ahead is driven by a fuzz bass that threatens to cleave it in two. These are passing squalls: he spends the album grateful for such acts as shopping at the farmers market or singing a new song for the first time. Fittingly, Talkin To The Trees is one of these simple pleasures, a port in the storm in these troubled times.
Talkin To The Trees is out June 13 on Reprise.
ORDER: Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Track listing:
Family Life
Dark Mirage
First Fire Of Winter
Silver Eagle
Lets Roll Again
Big Change
Talkin To The Trees
Movin Ahead
Bottle Of Love
Thankful
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