Neil Young’s New Album Will Include Songs Written in 1963

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts have finished recording a new album, and it will include some material Young wrote decades ago.

Young and the band recorded five new tracks for the album, but when they realized they needed more, Young turned to songs he wrote in 1963.

“We were then out of songs,” Young wrote on his website. “We needed more. The next morning I had a song going through my head and I was playing it. I checked it out in the archives and found it was from 1963, unreleased. There were more. I found three others with it… also unreleased!”

Young was just 17 years old and still with his band The Squires while living in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1963. He would go on to join Buffalo Springfield three years later, in 1966.

The album in progress was recorded in Malibu at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio. Young also discussed the band’s recording process, noting they recorded four songs in one day and a fifth song the following day. With the additional songs and mixing, recording was completed in a month.

“Music is a gift and when it comes like this I really feel it,” Young added. “Everything here feels so good. I hope you will agree.”

Young has not shared additional details about the album, including its title or tracklist, but it will be his 50th album. He first hinted at the new material last month, and although he has not shared a release date, he has said it is “coming soon” on an analog original vinyl pressing.

Young added that As Time Explodes, the live album he and the Chrome Hearts recorded on tour last year, “is ready to go,” with “unique versions of songs … both old and new.”

Talkin’ to the Trees, Young’s first album with new backing band the Chrome Hearts, was released last year. He began working with the Chrome Hearts in September 2024, after longtime band Crazy Horse announced an “unplanned break”. The Chrome Hearts includes guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony LoGerfo, and organist Spooner Oldham. Nelson previously toured with Young as part of Crazy Horse in 2024.