Is there no stopping this man? From the sublime to the ridiculous, the 71 year old Canadian is as prolific as ever. Ever since Buffalo Springfield disbanded back in 1968, there has barely been a year gone by when Young hasn’t released an album. Including this one, it’s number 37, and that does not include live albums, film soundtracks or other collaborations (such as the famous one with Crosby, Stills & Nash back in 1970). In the 21st century alone, he has now released 15 albums, which is more than his fellow Canuck, Leonard Cohen, released in an entire lifetime!

Unsurprisingly, the quality has been very mixed. And certainly he has never reached the heights of the late 60s, 70s and the brief renaissance of the early 90s, when Young was capable of writing the most sublime, and original songs. Like other greats such as David Bowie, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, and Prince, for some reason he just wasn’t able to produce material of the quality of his early career. Now, he largely trades in, what one reviewer unkindly calls, ‘Barn rock’n’roll’. Moreover, it’s hard to imagine that there are any leftover songs. It feels like he uses everything, whether good or bad. If he writes it, then it must be issued, seems to be the prevailing philosophy. Like an artist and their notebooks, very little is left to the imagination.

This is a bit unfair, of course. He’s still producing some great music even if it is now liberally peppered with a deep political bent. Big business and big government are his primary concerns nowadays (although it has always been there), helped along by his recently kindled relationship with actress Daryl Hannah (Blade Runner, Splash), a very pro-active environmental activist in the US. Hence 2015’s The Monsanto Years, a concept album that targeted agribusiness Monsanto, and which featured the band Promise of the Real, fronted by Willie Nelson’s son, Lukas. With Peace Trail however, there is no concept, just a disparate range of subject matters that include the exploitation of the indigenous American peoples, the proliferation of 'fake news', the lack of US Government accountability, the whipped up fear of terrorists and migrants, as well as more personal, idiosyncratic songs.

The sparse and live sounding Peace Trail features just Young, plus Paul Bushnell on bass and the legendary Jim Keltner on drums. Recorded over just four days, often with one or two takes, the result is a work that is very raw, a collection of song scraps that sound like early demo sessions in some cases, and mostly performed acoustically. On first listen much of the material feels half-finished, and fails to fully engage; such as the rough’n’ready 'Indian Givers', which attempts lift off several times, but merely reverts to a mutated, half-formed blues song, as Young continually sings “I wish somebody would share the news” despite the best efforts of Keltner as he alternatively tinkles and bashes away in an unorthodox fashion. Things reach a nadir with the childish acoustic and lo-fi percussion workout of 'Texas Rangers', interspersed by a nastily distorted harmonica (a feature throughout the album), but coming off as a hastily unfinished, and rather irritating piece.

Give it time though, and much of Peace Trail reveals an earthy quality that luxuriates in its simplicity, helped along by the subtle bass playing of relative newcomer Bushnell, and the lively percussion work of seasoned pro Keltner, to the extent that his playing is overty improvised, and really raw sounding; almost as if he is hitting a few boxes and other paraphenalia, rather than a standard kit. The overall feel is one of Young going back to his 70s work in style, if not always in substance.

But, as always with Young, there are fine moments even if they are a little scrappy, and lacking the sophistication of much of his earlier work. The title track itself floats along dual distorted electric and acoustic guitars, Young inerjecting here and there with his signature riffing, before he sings in that peculiar plaintive style. While the story-like 'My Pledge' combines Young’s auto-tuned voice with a sung-spoken word narrative to interesting effect, helped by Young pulling out the stops lyrically ("If it please the court I would like to say that it has not always been true / Standing here before you judge, I make my pledge of truth to you") and the downbeat unlaboured beats and rhythms of 'Can't Stop Working' are mesmerising and tranquil, as Young explicitly relays the fact that he literally can't stop working.

And like his recent live album, Earth, he continues to explore unlikley juxtapositions. On Earth, it was the overdubbed sound of a choir and the sounds of animals over the raw live recording which caught the ear. Here, there is not only the aforementioned auto-tuned voice, but the suprising last track, 'My New Robot', which begins in old-style country-rock style, before a computerised voice says, "Things here have changed', accompanied by online bleeps and various other consumerised robot voices, and a very brief mariachi trumpet. Weird and wonderful.

Overall, this is another slightly frustrating Neil Young album that would have benefited from more time and some editing. But, there's no doubting his never ending energy and desire to engage with current issues. And there is certainly no question of the man resting on his laurels, as he could easily do. As he sings on the title track itself: “Don’t think I’ll cash it in yet / I keep planting seeds until something new is growing." And for that you just have to forgive him that he just can't do 'less is more'.
Jeff Hemmings

Website: neilyoung.com