The Boss is back and he's got his eyes trained west. Bruce Springsteen has announced the pending arrival of his 19th studio album, "Western Stars."
"This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements," the 69-year-old Hall of Famer said Thursday in a statement. "It's a jewel box of a record."
Columbia Records will release the album on June 14, the label said.
It's the "Born In the U.S.A." singer's first studio album in five years (the last was 2014's "High Hopes") and encompasses "a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope," the statement said.
It also comes on the heels of the 20-time Grammy winner's historic 236-show run of "Springsteen on Broadway" from 2017 to 2018, which yielded a soundtrack album and Netflix special and earned the musician a special Tony Award.
The 13-song album, written by Springsteen, draws inspiration from Southern California pop records of the late 1960s and early 1970s, though it was recorded primarily in his New Jersey home studio, as well as in California and New York.
Its first single, "Hello Sunshine," and the accompanying music video drop at midnight tonight, which is also when album pre-orders begin. The track art features Springsteen leaning on a car _ yet again.
Guests on "Western Stars" include Jon Brion, David Sancious, Charlie Giordano and Soozie Tyrell. Patti Scialfa provides vocals and contributes vocal arrangements on four tracks, the statement said.
Springsteen and Ron Aniello produced the album, which was mixed Tom Elmhirst.
Here's the track list:
1. "Hitch Hikin'"
2. "The Wayfarer"
3. "Tucson Train"
4. "Western Stars"
5. "Sleepy Joe's Cafe"
6. "Drive Fast (The Stuntman)"
7. "Chasin' Wild Horses"
8. "Sundown"
9. "Somewhere North of Nashville"
10. "Stones"
11. "There Goes My Miracle"
12. "Hello Sunshine"
13. "Moonlight Motel"
