Columbia RecordsBob Dylan‘s latest studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, got its release today. The 10-track collection is the lauded singer/songwriter’s first record featuring all-new original material since 2012’s Tempest.
In a recent New York Times interview, Dylan reflected on his approach to songwriting lately.
“The songs seem to know themselves and they know that I can sing them, vocally and rhythmically,” he explained. “They kind of write themselves and count on me to sing them.”
In the same interview, Dylan also commented on the killing last month of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, in Bob’s home state of Minnesota.
“It sickened me no end to see George tortured to death like that,” the 79-year-old folk-rock legend said. “It was beyond ugly. Let’s hope that justice comes swift for the Floyd family and for the nation.”
Dylan also was asked if he felt the COVID-19 pandemic had a biblical element to it, like a plague.
“I think it’s a forerunner of something else to come,” Bob replied. “It’s an invasion for sure, and it’s widespread, but biblical? You mean like some kind of warning sign for people to repent of their wrongdoings? That would imply that the world is in line for some sort of divine punishment.”
He added, “Extreme arrogance can have some disastrous penalties. Maybe we are on the eve of destruction. There are numerous ways you can think about this virus. I think you just have to let it run its course.”
Rough and Rowdy Ways is available as a two-CD set, a two-LP vinyl collection, and digitally. You can preview the record at Dylan’s official YouTube channel, where all 10 songs have been posted in their entirety.
Here’s the Rough and Rowdy Ways track list:
“I Contain Multitudes”
“False Prophet”
“My Own Version of You”
“I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You”
“Black Rider”
“Goodbye Jimmy Reed”
“Mother of Muses”
“Crossing the Rubicon”
“Key West”
“Murder Most Foul”
By Matt Friedlander
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