With a delicately inviting sound that will no doubt lead long-time fans back to Harvest and its terrific sequel Harvest Moon, this early sample of Neil Young’s The Monsanto Years paints a bucolic portrait of nature in repose.
Of course, in keeping with the forthcoming album’s theme of environmental jeopardy, there are threatening clouds all around. Neil Young has been deeply involved in green issues for some time now, and promises an exploration of the way corporations impact the planet. “Wolf Moon” doesn’t sound anywhere near that strident, however, as it uses a quiet grace and well-chosen imagery to sell its underlying message.
Neil Young, appearing with Promise of the Real, returned to Oxnard, California’s Teatro Theater to film the accompanying video for “Wolf Moon” — the same resonant locale in which they recorded The Monsanto Years. Promise of the Real is led by Lukas and Micah Nelson, sons of country legend Willie Nelson; their father previously recorded 1998’s Teatro with Daniel Lanois at the same historic movie house.
The wolf moon, by the way, is the Native American name of January’s full moon, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. It’s a tribute to hungry wolves, who would howl outside of their villages in the dead of winter. The harvest moon (named for the period in which corn was meant to be taken from the fields) follows in September.
The younger Nelsons’ group — which also features Anthony Logerfo, Tato Melgar and Corey McCormick, was named after a line from the Neil Young track “Walk On,” off 1974’s On the Beach. They’ll begin a tour of North American amphitheaters in early July, just after the release of The Monsanto Years on June 29, 2015 via Reprise Records.
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