More details about Neil Young’s new EP The Times have been revealed. It’s set to come out exclusively on Amazon Music HD on September 18.
The EP captures the recordings of Young’s Fireside Sessions episode that Consequence of Sound is calling the Porch Episode. Every song on the EP is a version of an old song, all his own except for his cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” which was released to Amazon Music in advance of the EP along with “Lookin’ for a Leader 2020.”
The updated lyrics for the 2020 version of “Lookin’ for a Leader” speak out about the upcoming presidential election, “Yeah, we had Barack Obama, and we really need him now/ The man who stood behind him has to take his place somehow/ America has a leader building walls around our house/ Who don’t know Black lives matter, and it’s time to vote him out.” It was originally released in 2006 on Living With War. Young’s openly opposing views weren’t enough to prevent Trump from using his music without permission in his campaign, and he recently had to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Trump Administration earlier in August.
Young made a statement on why he chose to release the EP as an Amazon exclusive, “I’m on Amazon Music because no one delivers better sound to the masses.” The video of the Porch Episode will also be released on Prime Video.
Three more archival Young albums are set to be released to his Neil Young Archives website later this year, Neil Young Archives Volume 2, 1976’s Chrome Dreams and 1977’s Ocean Countryside. Neil Young Archives Volume 1 was released in 2009, so it’s easy to say that the follow-up has been long-awaited. Young already released an archival album from 1975 called Homegrown in June this year. The last song on the new EP, “Little Wing” is originally from that record.
The Times Tracklist
- Alabama
- Campaigner
- Ohio
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- Lookin’ for a Leader 2020
- Southern Man
- Little Wing