The Cowboy Junkies Have a New Album Out

As regular readers know, the Cowboy Junkies are my favourite band on the planet. They actually released this new CD back in May, so I’m behind the times. As always, they’re full of surprises. This CD is mostly covers:

By the middle of this past February (2005), we had been off the road for a few months, winter had her claws dug in deep, and it seemed like a good time to get together and play some music. An invitation was extended to our older brother John to come and sit in with his guitar. We decided to give our gathering a context: we were all to bring along two or three songs, written by others, and the themes of the songs had to relate to war, violence, fear, greed, ignorance, loss….We hoped to reach a critical mass of material that would reach out and touch a couple of hearts and souls. Our goal was to create our own small document of hope. Over the course of five days we sat in The Clubhouse and interpreted the words and melodies of others. We let the tape run while we played and did our best to channel those early 21st century blues.

I downloaded it (though I fully intend to give them my money–they’re very enlightened on file sharing, and aren’t with a major label), and really enjoyed it. Among others, it features a fantastic cover of Dylan’s “License to Kill” and an excellent take on U2’s “One”. The rap (fortunately, they brought in a guy named Rebel) on John Lennon’s “I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier” is probably ill-advised, but all in all I’m really enjoying the album. When it comes to the Junkies, I’m pretty biased, so your mileage may vary.

For a bonus link, check out this Junkies performance from Ireland’s CBC.