Neil Young‘s public schedule was wiped clean last month when he cancelled his European summer tour with the Chrome Hearts. But that doesn’t mean he’s been inactive. In a new post on the Neil Young Archives, Young vents about today’s political climate and reveals that he’s made significant progress on his next album.
“I am so hurt for this country,” he writes. “Politics today is so sad and depressing for me. I can’t do it anymore. I can go out and demonstrate my feelings about it. We have the worst president in the history of our country. Every day a bad TV show produced by DJT is what we get…Now, thankfully once again, I’m in the studio recording a new album with the Chrome Hearts. I love the songs and the feelings of life and love. Music is. So far was have eight new songs. They make me feel.”
Young’s most recent album is 2025’s Talkin’ to the Trees, which was also recorded with the Chrome Hearts. “Talkin’ to the Trees is Neil taking stock as he heads out into his eighties, with a defiantly messy statement of purpose for anyone who wants to trap him in the past,” Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield wrote in a three-star review. “He’s not aiming for a major work here — just taking his new group out for a spin in the studio and seeing where they can go, which could be end up being anywhere. Long may they — and he — run.”
Young and the Chrome Hearts toured all across North America last summer, but they played nothing from Talkin’ to the Trees besides “Silver Eagle.” They did break out the furious anti-Trump screed “Big Crime,” which was written on the road. The rest of the set was devoted to classics like “Ambulance Blues,” “Cowgirl In The Sand,” “Old Man,” and “Souther Man,” along with deep cuts like “Long Walk Home,” “Name of Love,” and “Sun Green.”
A European tour was slated to begin June 19 in Manchester, England, and wrap up July 16 in Codroipo, Italy. There were 14 dates in total. “I have decided to take a break and will not be touring Europe this time,” he wrote to fans on February 6 when he cancelled all of them. “Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time. I do love playing LIVE and being with you and the Chrome Hearts. LOVE Neil be well.”
In a subsequent response to a fan letter, he gave slightly more context for the decision. “I listen to my body,” he wrote. “That is why I cancelled.”
He also wrote that his touring days are not behind him forever. “Many of my performances on the Love Earth tour 2025 were transcendent,” he wrote to another fan. “I hope to be back with them on the road soon. What a wonderful band!”
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