Neil Young has spoken about the themes explored on his new album including that of corporate power, saying: "I wanted to represent the corporations how they’re supposed to be represented… Milky-sounding things.”
Neil Young will release his new album, EARTH, later this month. Speaking at a playback for the album ahead of its release, Young said that his decision to explore topics such as climate change and human rights was “a natural progression… People might get pissed off with my singing about these things but I’ve been doing it from the beginning. There’s nothing new about it.”
Young also addressed certain criticisms of his dealing with such grand themes in his work, emphasising his genuine interest in and care for the topics he writes about: “I don’t know which politician or talking head it was [that made such a criticism] – it doesn’t really matter, I don’t want to single anybody out. People don’t want you to do what they don’t expect you to do, and how would I know anything about this? I’m a rocker. But really I sing what I believe, and I’ve studied it. I’ve spent a lot of time doing that and I take it very seriously.”
However, despite this assertion of his authenticity, Young was careful to note that music should not necessarily be taken literally, or created without room for interpretation: “If everybody everywhere really feels that you mean what you say [in songs], then they apply it to their lives. It’s not precisely what I was talking about, but they have feelings, and they can latch onto those and that can be authentic and real.”
At the playback, Noel Gallagher questioned Young about the logic behind his insistence that session guitarist Nils Lofgren play piano, an instrument with which he had no previous experience, on the 1970 LP, After The Gold Rush: “I like the sound of people just starting. Most of my records sound like we don’t know them. Singing it and meaning it, that’s more important to me than actually knowing it. If you know it’s not new anymore, it’s not proper anymore. So it may be perfect but it doesn’t mean as much. That’s all.”
Young has also recently doubled down on Donald Trump’s use of his music on the campaign trail for the US presidential race. Young had last month said that Trump had sought the correct permission to use his music but has now reiterated his support for Bernie Sanders while sharing a live clip in which he introduces a track with the words "Fuck you, Donald Trump".
