Neil Young has always been a man of extremes. Case in point: just as the Canadian music legend is surmounting a high-fidelity audio revolution with his record-breaking Pono Music service he unleashes an ultra lo-fi collection of vintage covers as his newest album.

A Letter Home may be Young’s 35th(!) solo album, but the record wasn’t exactly recorded solo. As previously reported, the entire album was made in single takes recorded inside the refurbished 1947 Voice-O-Graph booth belonging to the one one only Jack White, situated at his personal Nashville headquarters and novelties lounge, Third Man Records (as the two demonstrated recently on US network television).

With the help of White – who also lends background vocals and ivory tinkling to two of the album’s tracks – Young embarked on what he previously described as “one of the lowest-tech experiences I’ve ever had.”

Opening with the title track, an actual audio letter dedicated to Young’s deceased mother explaining the recording process with “my friend Jack”, A Letter Home is an intimate showcase of covers of tunes that feel – and in their scratchy, mono recording quality – sound, as old as the hills while having a personal connection to the Canadian veteran.

There’s nod to greats such as Dylan (‘Girl From The North Country’), Springsteen (‘My Home Town’), Willie Nelson (‘Crazy’), Gordon Lightfoot (‘If You Could Read My Mind’), and influential UK folkie Bert Jansch’s ‘Needle of Death’, the inspiration for Young’s own Harvest centrepiece ‘Needle And The Damage Done’).

As a whole, the deeply personal record is – in the artist’s own words, “an unheard collection of rediscovered songs from the past recorded on ancient electro-mechanical technology captures and unleashes the essence of something that could have been gone forever.”

Emotionally raw and conceptually intriguing, A Letter Home is an important new addition to one of rock music’s most imposing yet rewarding discographies.

Listen to Neil Young’s new album in full below ahead of its official release on 23rd May via Reprise/Warner Bros. Pre-order details (including a deluxe edition) available here.

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