Seven previously-unheard Bruce Springsteen records will be released for the first time this summer on the widely-rumored and long-anticipated Tracks II: The Lost Albums, coming 27 June via Sony Music. A set spanning 83 songs, The Lost Albums fill in rich chapters of Springsteen’s expansive career timeline — while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist. “The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” said Springsteen. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”
From the lo-fi exploration of LA Garage Sessions ’83 — serving as a crucial link between Nebrask and Born in the U.S.A. — to the drum loop and synthesizer sounds of Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, The Lost Albums offer unprecedented context into 35 prolific years (1983-2018) of Springsteen’s songwriting and home recording. “The ability to record at home whenever I wanted allowed me to go into a wide variety of different musical directions,” Springsteen explained. Throughout the set, that sonic experimentation takes the form of film soundtrack work (for a movie that was never made) on Faithless, country combos with pedal steel on Somewhere North of Nashville, richly woven border tales on Inyo and orchestra-driven, mid-century noir on Twilight Hours. Alongside the announcement of The Lost Albums, a first look at the collection also arrives today with “Rain In The River” — which comes from the lost album Perfect World, and encapsulates that project’s arena-ready E Street flavour.
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The Lost Albums will arrive in limited-edition nine LP, seven CD and digital formats — including distinctive packaging for each previously-unreleased record, with a 100-page cloth-bound, hardcover book featuring rare archival photos, liner notes on each lost album from essayist Erik Flannigan and a personal introduction on the project from Springsteen himself. A companion set — Lost And Found: Selections from The Lost Albums — will feature 20 highlights from across the collection, also arriving June 27 on two LPs or one CD. The Lost Albums were compiled by Springsteen with producer Ron Aniello, engineer Rob Lebret and supervising producer Jon Landau at Thrill Hill Recording in New Jersey.
Header image by Danny Clinch
