Neil Young only occasionally reveals his private life, but in July he filed for divorce from his wife of 36 years, Pegi, and is now with actress Daryl Hannah: "A purely poisonous predator," according to David Crosby, effectively ending any CSN&Young reunion.
So - aside from Who's Gonna Stand Up, about fossil fuels and fracking, songs about cars and travel metaphors, and a swinging, Dylanesque Say Hello to Chicago - 70-year-old Neil is considering old 'n' new loves.
On the sorry-but-not Like You Used To there's veiled regret ("some day you'll see me as you used to do") with a bitter twist ("I got my problems but they mostly show up with you"). But as always there are inane images (Tumbleweed's "your inner beauty is a peace sign to me"), sentimental rubbish ("out by the car our snowman's melting, nothing can bring him back now") and sentiments which could be self-pitying or courageous candour: "So many people don't understand what it's like to be me, but I'm not different from anybody else ... "
Actually Neil, you are. We can't make a double disc about this stuff: one with orchestras (92-piece, 60-piece) and a swinging big band (think This Note's For You in 88); the other the same songs solo at piano or on guitar, ukulele, etc.
On the latter - the better of the two - the slinky I Wanna Drive My Car comes with whispery, veiled menace. Say Hello to Chicago and Like You Used To have a similarly slow, bluesy quality. Even the cringe-inducing Tumbleweed sounds cute on ukulele, and it's impossible not to be affected by When I Watch You Sleeping - despite its teen-smitten poetry - for the unadorned simplicity.
