Bob Dylan has announced his first album of original songwriting in eight years.
Rough and Rowdy Ways will be released on 19 June. It follows three albums of cover versions – Shadows in the Night (2015), Fallen Angels (2016) and triple album Triplicate (2017) – with his previous album of his own songs, Tempest, released in 2012.
Two songs from the new album have been released in recent weeks. Murder Most Foul is his longest song ever at 17 minutes, a mystical reflection on the JFK assassination that also rakes over decades of American pop culture. The shorter I Contain Multitudes saw Dylan singing: “I’m just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones / And them British bad boys, the Rolling Stones … I sing the songs of experience like William Blake / I have no apologies to make.”
He has now released a third song, a slightly more upbeat blues-rock number called False Prophet, where Dylan voices the figure in the title with a certain swagger: “I ain’t no false prophet / I just said what I said / I’m just here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head.”
He was due to tour Japan in April, but was forced to cancel the concerts due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Sotheby’s in London are currently auctioning a manuscript page featuring lyrics written for Blonde on Blonde, including some that have never been recorded by Dylan. It has exceeded its £12,000-£15,000 estimate with four days to go, with the highest bid currently £26,000.
