Neil Young has revealed he is back in the studio with The Chrome Hearts, working on a new album featuring a set of songs he says capture life, love and the emotions that still drive his music.
by Paul Cashmere
At 80, Neil Young is still chasing the spark that has defined one of the most enduring careers in modern music. The Canadian-born singer songwriter has revealed he is currently recording a new studio album with his band The Chrome Hearts, with eight songs already taking shape.
Young shared the update directly with fans in a message posted to his Neil Young Archives site. The statement combined a personal reflection on the political climate in the United States with a glimpse into the creative process that continues to motivate him in the studio.
“Now, thankfully, once again, I’m in the studio recording a new album with the Chrome Hearts,” Young wrote. “I love the songs and the feelings of life and love. Music is. So far we have eight new songs. They make me feel.”
Young’s comment arrived not long after the cancellation of a planned European summer tour with The Chrome Hearts in 2026. The tour had been announced earlier but was later called off with Young telling fans, “I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time.”
Despite the absence of scheduled performances this year, Young’s studio output has rarely slowed. Since the beginning of the 21st century he has released a steady stream of albums across a range of musical directions, from acoustic folk recordings to full band electric sessions and politically focused concept works.
The Chrome Hearts project represents the newest chapter in that continuing evolution. Young first began working with The Chrome Hearts in September 2024. The band brings together a mix of long time collaborators and younger musicians from a lineage closely tied to the country rock world surrounding Willie Nelson.
The group features veteran keyboard player Spooner Oldham, a revered figure in American soul and rock recordings for more than five decades. Guitarist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo complete the lineup.
Nelson, McCormick and LoGerfo previously played together in Promise Of The Real, the band led by Micah’s brother Lukas Nelson. That group served as Young’s backing band through much of the mid-2010s, including the politically charged 2015 album The Monsanto Years and the 2017 follow up The Visitor.
Young’s most recent studio album, Talkin’ To The Trees, was also recorded with The Chrome Hearts and released in June 2025. The record introduced the chemistry of the new group and set the foundation for the current sessions.
The last time Young performed with The Chrome Hearts was in October 2025 during the Harvest Moon: A Gathering benefit concert in Lake Hughes, California, an event closely associated with Young’s long running environmental and agricultural advocacy.
Alongside the new album project, Young continues to draw from his vast archive of recordings. A newly announced live release titled Hard Luck Stories will present material recorded with Crazy Horse in May 1997 at the Trocadero Transfer club in San Francisco.
The album focuses on rarely performed songs captured during an intimate performance. Initially the release will be available digitally through the Neil Young Archives platform before being included in the fourth volume of the Neil Young Archives box set series, which Young says is planned for release in late 2026 or 2027.
Tracklisting:
Hard Luck Stories,
Slip Away,
Big Time,
Razor Love,
Hippie Dream,
Truth be Known,
I’m the Ocean,
Don’t be Denied
Another release is already scheduled sooner. Young and The Chrome Hearts will issue a live album titled As Time Explodes for the 2026 Record Store Day event on April 18. The 13-track collection was recorded during selected shows across the United States and Europe on the band’s 2025 tour.
Daddy Went Walking
Looking Forward
Harvest Moon
Ohio
Name Of Love
Be The Rain
Big Crime
Long Walk Home
Vampire Blues
Cortez The Killer
After The Gold Rush
Like A Hurricane
Silver Eagle
Among the performances included is a live version of a new song titled Big Crime, a track Young previously previewed in a rehearsal performance filmed during a soundcheck in Chicago.
Young’s ability to move between new studio work, live recordings and archival releases has been a defining feature of his later career. Since 2000 he has delivered a prolific catalogue of albums that continues to expand the scope of his songwriting and recording approach.
Neil Young Studio Albums Since 2000
Silver & Gold, 2000
Are You Passionate?, 2002
Greendale, 2003
Prairie Wind, 2005
Living With War, 2006
Chrome Dreams II, 2007
Fork In The Road, 2009
Le Noise, 2010
Americana, 2012
Psychedelic Pill, 2012
A Letter Home, 2014
Storytone, 2014
The Monsanto Years, 2015
Peace Trail, 2016
The Visitor, 2017
Colorado, 2019
Barn, 2021
World Record, 2022
Talkin’ To The Trees, 2025
Across those releases Young has revisited many of the themes that have defined his writing since the late 1960s, environmental activism, personal reflection, social commentary and the restless pursuit of new musical textures.
For now the focus remains firmly on the studio. Eight songs are already underway with The Chrome Hearts, and Young has signalled that the emotional connection to the material is what continues to drive him forward.
“Music is,” he wrote simply in his message to fans.
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