Willie Nelson “faces death with grace” on new his album ‘Last Leaf on the Tree’.
The 91-year-old musician is preparing to release his 76th solo record in November and his 34-year-old son Micah Nelson – who produced the album – has revealed the project embraced Willie’s ability to address the “finality of life in recent years”.
Micah explained: “There are little side-quests, but that became the through-line – facing death with grace.”
Micah previously worked with his dad on family albums ‘Willie and the Boys’ in 2017 and 2021’s ‘The Willie Nelson Family’ but this is the first time he has produced one of his dad’s records.
The album’s first single is a cover of Tom Waits’ ‘Last Leaf’ which Willie previously recorded as a collaboration with Rolling Stones star Keith Richards back in 2011.
‘Last Leaf on the Tree’ boasts another Waits song – ‘House Where Nobody Lives’ – as well as covers of tracks by the Flaming Lips, Beck and Neil Young.
The album also features ‘Wheels’ which was written by Micah and ‘Color of Sound’ which father and son wrote together.
Micah added he took a “sculptor’s approach” to producing the album, adding: “It’s an approach that I really love and have used a lot over the years – just throwing the clay down and stepping back, then maybe adding a little more, and then maybe shaving down here, and kind of building the tracks that way.”
He also explained he played more than 20 different instruments while recording the album and even produced sounds using more unusual methods such as performing with “sticks and branches, logs and dead leaves”.
‘Last Leaf’ was released on August 15 and ‘Last Leaf on the Tree’ will land on November 1.