Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 05/24/2023
Photo by Rob DeMartin
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame E Street Band member, Crazy Horse member and solo artist Nils Lofgren has released a new song “Nothin’s Easy (For Amy)” featuring vocals from Neil Young. The song is a loving tribute to his wife Amy Aiello Lofgren, who co-produced his new album Mountains that will be released on July 21. Mountains is now available for pre-order.
Lofgren explains the song, “An apocalyptic landscape, the lone tulip, left in the road. Walking hand in hand with my true love as compassion and common sense careen toward extinction. This ultimate gift and blessing demands hope. ‘We’re all drowning in the answers, best get movin’, God don’t row…as I walk the hurt in this world, nothin’s easy, ‘cept you.’ After 54 years singing with musical giant Neil Young, his haunted, weathered soul, completes this song. Of course, inspired by and written for Amy.”
“Nothin’s Easy” follows the release of the album opener “Ain’t The Truth Enough,” which was praised by American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, SPIN, Stereogum and many more.
Written and recorded at home in Scottsdale, AZ, the 10-song collection is lush and soulful, mixing rock and roll muscle with blues grit and gospel transcendence as it grapples with a world where pride and selfishness are treated as virtues and the power-hungry are rewarded for their greed and shortsightedness. The result is perhaps the most vulnerable and revealing work in Lofgren’s impressive 50-year catalog, an intuitive, empathetic reflection on truth, trust, and the power of human connection delivered with the help of an all-star cast of friends including Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Cindy Mizelle, the Howard Gospel Choir, Ron Carter and David Crosby.
“These songs are all born of raw emotion,” says Lofgren. “I gave myself permission to share my fear and my anger, my love and my hope, to be open about what I was experiencing.”
Traditionally, Lofgren’s commitment to songcraft made for a slow, deliberate process in the studio. Tracks would be written and rewritten, lyrics edited and revisited, recordings cut and then tossed aside. This time around, however, Lofgren set new rules for himself: write whatever you feel; share it no matter what. He began challenging himself to write every day, treating the process as an outlet not only for his frustration with the state of the world, but also for the joy and gratitude he felt to have so much time with Amy, son Dylan and their dogs.
“The album started as a form of therapy,” he explains, “but it very quickly grew beyond that. It was so freeing to work without any expectations, to just write whatever came out, and it turned into some of the most inspired work I think I’ve ever recorded.”
Concurrent with the release of Mountains, Nils will launch his Rockality video series. These 30–40 minute videos consist of Nils’ storytelling at its best, as he recounts the twists and turns of his path in the world of music. These are non-rehearsed, folksy deliveries of fascinating, colorful and entertaining stories that conclude with Nils singing a song or stretching out on his guitar. Each episode will be available to purchase from nilslofgren.com starting on July 21.
Mountains tracklist:
1. Ain't The Truth Enough
2. Only Ticket Out
3. Back In Your Arms
4. Won’t Cry No More (For Charlie Watts)
5. Nothin’s Easy (For Amy)
6. Dream Killer
7. Only Your Smile
8. I Remember Her Name
9. We Better Find It
10. Angel Blues
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