Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts are back with Second Song, marking the 80-year-old singer-songwriter’s second full-length collaboration with the group featuring drummer Anthony LeGerfo, bassist Corey McCormick, guitarist Micah Nelson and keyboardist Spooner Oldham.
Mostly consisting of new material (save for two songs written decades ago), the seven songs here touch on Young’s marriage to actress Daryl Hannah and life observations from him surely not being so young anymore. From opener “The Foggy Ege of Time,’ with its plodding piano, and some strange twists to the confessional lyric that creep into cringey-worthy, The Chrome Hearts give Young the backing he needs and solid harmonies for these delicate little ditties.
The sweet “Earth Girl,” and the call to an old friend who might remember what Young remembers in the album’s title track, with its perfect harmonica, are good examples of the laidback vibe around the album. Pushing past the nine-minute mark, the album’s longest track (and the only one featuring the real use of electric guitar), “Soon I Might Be Going,” touches on a whole bunch of ideas — Donald Trump’s renovations to the White House, Young’s estrangement from his daughter, Amber Jean, among them. And although this tune, like plenty here, might play out too long, with lines line, “I miss you like tomorrow, I see you like today,” Young can still deliver some heart-breaking moments with his writing and his shaky high nasal whine.
The two older songs — 1965’s “Casting Me Away From You” and 1964’s “I’ll Love You — are solid enough, with the latter being reworked here specially for Hannah, faring slightly better as a sweet love song. Yes, listeners need to set themselves into a laconic groove for Second Song and quite a few of these numbers might overstay their point. But at 80, maybe Young wishes he could indeed stay around longer. For the time being, we have him and The Chrome Hearts.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
