Neil Young has quietly unveiled a new concert film, Corduroy Plants, offering fans a free hour-long document of his 2025 Love Earth tour with The Chrome Hearts. Directed by Daryl Hannah, the film appeared without announcement on the Neil Young Archives website and features performances alongside imagery drawn from contemporary news events and history.
by Paul Cashmere
Neil Young has once again bypassed conventional music industry promotion, quietly releasing a new concert film, Corduroy Plants, through his Neil Young Archives platform. The hour-long film, directed by his wife Daryl Hannah, captures highlights from Young’s 2025 Love Earth tour with backing band The Chrome Hearts and is available to watch free of charge for subscribers and visitors to the Archives website.
The surprise release arrives only weeks after Young issued the live album As Time Explodes, which documented performances from the same 2025 U.S. and European tour. While the album featured 13 tracks, Corduroy Plants presents an 11-song selection, drawing heavily from that release while omitting “After The Gold Rush” and “Looking Forward”.
For Young, the unannounced release continues a pattern that has become increasingly common in recent years. The songwriter has largely stepped away from traditional promotional campaigns, rarely grants interviews and has significantly reduced his use of social media platforms. Fans discovered the existence of Corduroy Plants themselves through the Neil Young Archives, where the film appeared without a press release or advance notice.
Hannah, who also directed Young’s 2025 documentary Coastal, takes a more ambitious approach than a straightforward concert presentation. Throughout the film she intercuts live performances with footage of contemporary events and historical imagery. The visual treatment reinforces themes that have long appeared in Young’s songwriting, particularly environmental concerns, war, politics and social justice.
During “Vampire Blues”, images of oil spills and environmental destruction accompany the performance. “Like A Hurricane” is paired with footage of agricultural workers, while “Cortez The Killer” is presented alongside imagery connected to the Second World War, the Holocaust and more recent conflicts. Other sequences include footage related to Gaza, political figures and prominent technology executives, creating a broader commentary that extends beyond the concert stage.
The release also arrives during a period of uncertainty regarding Young’s touring plans. Earlier this year he cancelled a scheduled 2026 United Kingdom and European tour with The Chrome Hearts, explaining to fans that he had decided to take a break from the road. Despite stepping back from major touring commitments, Young has continued to make select live appearances, including a surprise performance at environmentalist David Suzuki’s 90th birthday celebration in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, Young remains prolific in the studio. He recently confirmed completion of a second album with The Chrome Hearts, titled Second Song, recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California. No release date has been announced. The project is expected to feature a mixture of new material alongside songs Young originally wrote in the early 1960s. It will follow 2025’s Talking To The Trees, the first studio album credited to the group.
The Chrome Hearts were assembled by Young in September 2024 and feature guitarist Micah Nelson, organist Spooner Oldham, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo. The band quickly became a significant creative outlet for Young, appearing on both studio and live recordings during a particularly productive chapter of his career.
Beyond current projects, Young has also revealed progress on the long-awaited fourth volume of his archival box set series. The collection is expected to continue documenting unreleased and rare recordings, extending coverage of his career through to the conclusion of the Greendale era in 2004.
For now, however, Corduroy Plants offers fans a timely snapshot of Young’s latest touring incarnation. Presented without fanfare and discovered organically by his audience, the film reflects an artist who remains committed to delivering new work on his own terms.
Corduroy Plants Tracklisting
Daddy Went Walkin’
Harvest Moon
Ohio
Name Of Love
Be The Rain
Big Crime
Long Walk Home
Silver Eagle
Vampire Blues
Like A Hurricane
Cortez The Killer
After The Gold Rush
This Notes For You (over credits)
Looking Forward and After The Gold Rush from ‘As Time Explodes’ not included on ‘Corduroy Plants’.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first-Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
Bluesky
Instagram
X (Twitter)
