Robbie Robertsonis one of rock’s greatest storytellers, and on a new track, he sets his sights on his own remarkable history. “Once Were Brothers,” which PEOPLE exclusively premieres today, is a poignant look back at his musical brethren in the Band — the hugely influential group whose debut,Music from Big Pink, inspired a sea change in popular music upon its release in 1968, and pointed the way for untold Americana acts to come.
“There is war and conflict involved,” Robertson, 76, says of the deeply personal song. “Writing it hurt inside sometimes, but those experiences can be rewarding in the emotional outcome. It hurt but I loved it.”
Robbie Robertson.Silvia-Grav
Robertson’s longtime passion for film (and noir) is clear in the title of his upcoming album,Sinematic. The 13-track collection, his first set of originals since 2011’s introspective collaboration with Eric Clapton,has its genesis in Robertson’s film work. “I was working on music forThe Irishmanand working on the documentary, and these things were bleeding into each other,” he says in a statement. “I could see a path. Ideas for songs about haunting and violent and beautiful things were swirling together like a movie. You follow that sound and it all starts to take shape right in front of your ears. At some point, I started referring to it as ‘Peckinpah Rock’, a nod to Sam Peckinpah, the late director of such violent Westerns asThe Wild Bunch.”
To further the visual effect, Robertson created a series of paintings and images for each song, ranging from abstract impressionism to distorted photo-realism. These will be included in the liner notes forSinematic, which is due out Sept. 20. A limited Deluxe Edition, which includes a CD, two 180-gram vinyl LPs and a 36-page hardcover book, will follow on Oct. 25.
source: people.com
