Commercially Released: June 14, 2019
Produced by Ron Aniello and Bruce Springsteen
Recorded by Ron Aniello and Tom Elmhirst, assisted by Rob Lebret, Ron Aniello, Ross Petersen,
and Toby Scott at Thrill Hill Studio
Mixed by Tom Elmhirst
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering
Photography by Kalle Gustafsson
Overview
Bruce Springsteen's first new studio album in five years takes his music to a new place, drawing inspiration in part from the Southern California pop records of the late '60s and early '70s. The album was recorded primarily at Springsteen's home studio in New Jersey, with additional recording in California and New York. Columbia Records released Springsteen's 19th studio album on June 14, 2019.
"This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements", says Springsteen. "It's a jewel box of a record."
The 13 tracks of 'Western Stars' encompass a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope.
Most of these tracks were first recorded in early or late 2010 (before or after "The Promise" project) at Stone Hill Studio, Colts Neck, New Jersey. New producer Ron Aniello was hired on January 9, 2011, at first to help Springsteen finish arrangements on the approximately 40 unfinished tracks he had recorded with Toby Scott the prior year. However, Bruce continued to write new songs, now in a different style, that developed into the album, Wrecking Ball, released in 2012, and after touring, the project was sidelined again in 2013 by High Hopes. After the HH tour, work began on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection anniversary box set in 2015, and then Springsteen toured worldwide for over a year with The E Street Band, until February 2017. There was his autobiography, Born to Run, The Essential and Chapter And Verse, followed by Springsteen on Broadway, that ran until late 2018. Meanwhile, Aniello had been working on completing the songs, which he and Springsteen wrapped up in early 2019.
Ron Aniello produced the album with Springsteen and plays bass, keyboard, and other instruments. Patti Scialfa provides vocals and contributes vocal arrangements on four tracks. The musical arrangements include strings, horns, pedal steel and contributions from more than 20 other players including Jon Brion (who plays celeste, Moog, and farfisa), as well as guest appearances by David Sancious, Charlie Giordano, and Soozie Tyrell. The album was mixed by Tom Elmhirst.
Source:http://www.brucespringsteen.net
Was this solo album your most recent burst of writing?
According Springsteen. "Yeah, I would say so, which is unusual because I wrote most of that before [2012's] "Wrecking Ball", and I stopped making that record to make "Wrecking Ball," and then I went back to it. So it's been awhile since I've written, but that's not unusual. That's occurred plenty of other times in my working life."
Springsteen. "It's the record I wrote before Wrecking Ball but could not finish, and in attempting to finish it, I wrote Wrecking Ball. So the roots of the record go back quite a ways. Sometimes you have to wait for these puzzles to sort themselves out, and it can take years. I mean, I have a record that I've been working on that's 20 years old. That's just the way the process is working at the moment."
And from a Ron Aniello interview from 2013 talking about High Hopes & in these two questions, it seems obvious to me that he can only be speaking of Western Stars, "Bruce said he wrote a whole bunch of songs before Wrecking Ball, but I suppose he didn't want to dip into those for this album. Those were about 30 or 40 songs. They were very unique for him, unlike anything I'd ever heard. That's what I wanted to do originally, to help arrange those or give him ideas or look for some inspiration. Those are lovely songs, but none of them are on this record."
The album was recorded primarily at Springsteen's home studio in New Jersey, with additional recording in California and New York.
The artwork is a stock photo from Trunck Archive, and was taken by photographer Kalle Gustafsson.
Released
| # | Song Title | Running Time | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | HITCH HIKIN' | 3:37 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 2. | THE WAYFARER | 4:18 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 3. | TUCSON TRAIN | 3:31 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 4. | WESTERN STARS | 4:41 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 5. | SLEEPY JOE'S CAFÉ | 3:14 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 6. | DRIVE FAST (THE STUNTMAN) | 4:16 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 7. | CHASIN' WILD HORSES | 5:03 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 8. | SUNDOWN | 3:17 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 9. | SOMEWHERE NORTH OF NASHVILLE | 1:52 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 10. | STONES | 4:44 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 11. | THERE GOES MY MIRACLE | 4:05 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 12. | HELLO SUNSHINE | 3:56 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
| 13. | MOONLIGHT MOTEL | 4:16 | WESTERN / WESTERN: OST |
Total Running Time: 50:59
Additional Information
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