Neil Young has recently released a brand new studio album, Talkin’ To The Trees. On this outing, he’s subbed out Crazy Horse and has brought in a “new-ish” band, the Chrome Hearts. The Chrome Hearts are basically Promise of the Real (who have been Neil’s on and off backup band for a while): Micah Nelson (guitars), Corey McCormick (bass) and Anthony LoGerfo (drums) with long time Neil Young sideman Spooner Oldham on keyboards. I guess since they fleshed out the band with Spooner, they needed a different name than POTR, so they settled on Chrome Hearts which was probably taken from Neil’s song “Long May You Run” and the lyric “With your chrome heart shining in the sun, Long may you run.” Either that or Neil was thinking Crazy Horse… CH…hey, what about Chrome Hearts?

One thing about Neil, he follows his muse wherever it might take him. Especially when that concerns who he’s working with. And even though Neil was on what I considered a hot streak with three great albums in a row with Crazy Horse featuring none other than Nils Lofgren – Colorado (2019), Barn (2021), and World Record (2022) – he decided to record this one with POTR and Spooner (whom he first worked with on Comes A Time in 1978). It’s always nice to see Spooner in the band. Neil’s album that preceded the trio of Crazy Horse albums was 2017’s The Visitor with Promise of the Real, so maybe the Crazy Horse guys were busy and he went back to those guys. We know Nils is on tour with Springsteen and has been for a while, but I digress. When I mentioned that Neil had been on a hot streak with those Crazy Horse LPs, I’m not even taking into consideration his great Archives series which gave us Oceanside Countryside earlier this year and Early Daze and the long awaited Archives III last year. Hell, I even dug the recent Young tribute LP. It’s a great time to be a Neil Young fan.

While I’m clearly a fan of Neil Young (and have been forever) and admittedly feel like he’s been putting out great music lately, it’s hard for me or anybody else who was a Young fan during the 80s to not be a little anxious when he announces a new album. The man’s career has been a bit up and down, to say the least. I was bummed this wasn’t a Crazy Horse album but I liked the first single “big change” despite it’s baffling lyrics. It’s a punchy rock song and who amongst us doesn’t like rocking Young. Neil produced the album with producing legend Lou Adler. In fact, he’s had a different co-producer on his last four albums (including this one) without much of a drop off in quality. However, I do think Neil misses his old producer/confidante David Briggs. Neil has seemingly committed to this “first take/best take” ethos, meaning he believes the first take of a song is always the best. I think David was usually able to prod Neil into another take or two. And let’s not forget, for his whole career Neil has had a treasure trove of songs that he kept in the vault that he worked and reworked until he had a version he thought releasable…both “Powderfinger” and “Pocahontas” come to mind. While all that had me wondering if this was going to be a clunker or a classic, I needn’t have worried. It’s neither. But it’s a damn good, albeit flawed Neil Young album.

Neil has two sides, one acoustic and the other loud and electric. On the one side he’s a folky, country rock guy and on the other he’s a cross between Hendrix and punk rock. Often he’s devoted entire albums to one of those styles. On Talkin’ To The Trees, we get both electric rockers and acoustic strummers. We get loud and quiet Neil. I guess the days of one side of acoustic tracks and one side of electric tracks is long past, which is fine. That probably was more effective when the world was all vinyl and you had to put down the bong and turn the record (or the cassette) over.

I’ll admit, I liked “big change” and it left me optimistic for the album but it wasn’t until I heard the title track that I knew there would be some “gold in these there hills.” It’s a classic Neil Young, acoustic guitar with harmonica song. He even name checks Bob Dylan on the song. “Waitin’ around for the world to change…” It may be my favorite track on the album. Comparing those two tracks, the first ones I’d heard on the album, I knew this might be slightly uneven, although “big change” has steadily grown on me.

There are two tracks that start the album that threw me off a bit. The opening track is the acoustic “Family Life.” I really like the song but Neil literally name checks every single member of his family. Neil was married to his second wife Pegi for a really long time, but he left her for his current wife Darryl Hannah. I don’t want to get into David Crosby territory here and sound like I’m critical of that – “life is what happens when you’re making other plans” – but apparently Young’s daughter has taken exception to all of that. He sings, about the song that it “Might be one I wrote for my grandchildren, Who I can’t see…” I like confessional, personal songwriting but uh, this feels like a Christmas newsletter (“brag rag”) gone wrong. I’m sure the lyric “Singin’ for my best wife ever, The best cook in the world!” about Darryl isn’t going to assuage any anger on his daughter’s part. Edit yourself Neil… After that we go electric to “Dark Mirage” which is a raw, grunge-rock type of song that more directly addresses his daughter. “When I lost my little girl to the darkness inside…” Jesus, Neil? From a sound perspective, it’s a bit of a hell-scape which perhaps captures his anguish.

As I mentioned, there are acoustic tracks and electric tracks on Talkin To The Trees. I have to admit, like most older rock stars, I think the mellow, acoustic tracks are the most successful for Neil. “First Fire Of Winter” is a gorgeous track. I can almost hear the wood crackling in the fire pit out back…sipping whiskey and smelling the smoke. Give me Neil, an acoustic guitar, a harmonica and muted (brushed?) drums and I’m there. I put this one on our Playlist: Songs About Fire. He follows that up with what might be considered a sequel to the aforementioned “Long May You Run,” called “Silver Eagle,” a travelogue tune written about his old tour bus. Neil has written more songs about a specific vehicle than anybody including Bruce. I added that to our Playlist: Songs About Cars. Sure, it’s not a car, but it’s a vehicle on the highway. The acoustic track chugs along on some nice work from the rhythm section.

The rocking tunes are aplenty as well, albeit slightly less successful. I’ve already talked about “big change.” “Let’s Roll Again” is a song about the auto industry that sounds like an electric version of “This Land Is Your Land.” I’m sure the Woody Guthrie estate will be looking into a writing credit. Neil sings a line I never thought I’d hear in a rock song, “If you’re a fascist get a Tesla,” which tells you a lot about the state of the world right now. It’s not a bad song… just a bit strident. “Movin’ Ahead” is another punchy rocker. Spooner’s organ plays nice counterpoint to the squalling guitars. It hasn’t grabbed yet, but it might grow on me. And I’ve already mentioned “Dark Mirage.”

The album actually ends with two quieter songs that I really liked. The first is “Bottle Of Love” which is a sweet, piano-acoustic guitar driven love song. It’s a little trippy to my ears but I like trippy Neil. Then there’s the ender “Thankful,” which is a jaunty acoustic track that would have been right at home on Harvest Moon.

This one may not be a bit uneven, certainly I don’t think it’s on par with his latest work with Crazy Horse, but this is still a solid record. I absolutely love the acoustic stuff. Admittedly the first few tracks left me hoping that Neil and his family get some professional help but again that stuff is private and should remain so. I think Neil fans are going to dig this album. And alas, as I’ve always said, if you’re complaining about Neil’s voice at this stage of the game, you don’t get it and may never get it.

As Neil sings, “I’ve been pilin’ on the years, Full of laughter, sometimes tears, I feel thankful for them now…” I couldn’t agree more. Cheers!