Last month, Neil Young announced that a long-shelved project of his from the mid-1970s would see the light of day. Specifically, the album Homegrown, recorded in 1974 but left in the archives due to Young’s feelings of heartbreak over a recently-concluded relationship. In a 1975 interview with Cameron Crowe at Rolling Stone, Young offered a succinct description of the album:
I’m sure parts of Homegrown will surface on other albums of mine. There’s some beautiful stuff that Emmylou Harris sings harmony on. I don’t know. That record might be more what people would rather hear from me now, but it was just a very down album. It was the darker side to Harvest. A lot of the songs had to do with me breaking up with my old lady. It was a little too personal . . . it scared me.
The album is set for release on June 19, and now Young has released another short preview of it. That would be the song “Vacancy,” the second song from Homegrown that he’s made available.
Writing at Pitchfork, Madison Bloom offers a good summary of the album’s history and Young’s activities this year to date.
As for “Vacancy,” it sounds like exactly what it is: a lost song from one of Young’s most acclaimed periods, featuring nimble guitar work and a jittery undercurrent that evokes some of the raw emotions Young has alluded to in interviews about the project. It’s a welcome addition to Young’s discography — and one that some have been waiting for for a very long time.
Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
