Neil Young has revealed more details about upcoming album ‘The Monsanto Years’, a collaborative effort featuring Willie Nelson‘s sons.
Young will team up with Promise Of The Real, a band that includes Lukas and Micah Nelson, for the LP. Now, as Pitchfork reports, Young will release a documentary film about the making of the record alongside the LP.
A screening of a “work in progress” version of the unfinished documentary was aired last night (April 22) in New York, with Young prefacing the event by saying “No auto tune or vocal booths were used, and no ears were harmed in the making of this record”.
The record, which features protest songs against controversial agricultural company Monsanto, will be released on June 16. Monsanto is a company that Young has been publicly battling against for years. The singer boycotted Starbucks last year over the coffee company’s involvement with Monsanto in a lawsuit against the state of Vermont’s new requirements to label genetically modified ingredients.
The folk singer will head on a tour of North America with Promise Of The Real during July, with support at select shows coming from Band Of Horses. The full live schedule can be found at Young’s official website.
Neil Young debuted his new band with a surprise intimate show in California last week (April 17). Young took to the stage at 9pm and played until midnight. He was backed by the Nelsons on guitars, plus Promise of the Real bandmates Corey McCorkmick and Anthony Logerfo on bass and drums respectively.
The majority of the set was made up of new material, though Young did also perform a number of classic hits including a near-10 minute extended version of ‘Down By The River’ plus ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’ and ‘Walk On.’
Neil Young released two studio albums in 2014. His 34th album, ‘A Letter Home’, was released in March, while a follow-up, titled ‘Storytone’, followed in November.