"The overall effect is hypnotic, mesmeric – a musical montage that has no start or end point": Neil Young's Before And After

Another month, another Neil Young album.

This one is a little different, though: for his new album, Young covers a variety of songs from his vast back catalogue – from Buffalo Springfield’s plaintive Burned (1966) to his recent plea for harmony, Don’t Forget Love (2021) – on acoustic, solo, one song merging into the next. The overall effect is hypnotic, mesmeric – a musical montage that has no start or end point.

This is Young’s 45th studio album, co-produced with Lou Adler (think Carole King’s 1972 album Tapestry), and his flame shows no sign of dimming. Old favourites such as Mr. Soul and Comes A Time alongside lesser-known cuts, become almost mantra-like, droning and highly resonant, imbued with the aching of years. Birds stands out, with its cascading harmonies, as does A Dream That Can Last (from 1994’s Kurt Cobain-inspired Sleeps With Angels), and there’s one new song If You Got Love, which wails like a good ‘un.

Perhaps not the new studio recording some were hoping for, but a fascinating and compelling deep dive into Young’s past.