Hear Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real’s Soulful Songs From New LP
Neil Young collaborators Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real will release their new self-titled LP on August 25th via Fantasy. Lady Gaga contributes backing vocals to a pair of new songs, including the soulful “Find Yourself,” and indie-pop act Lucius appears on gospel-styled ballad “Set Me Down on a Cloud.” Those tracks, along with soft-rock slow-burner “Forget About Georgia,” are available to stream below exclusively through Rolling Stone.
Nelson, the band’s guitarist-frontman (and son of Willie Nelson), tells Rolling Stone that he wrote “Set Me Down on a Cloud” two years ago for a friend who lost her child in a tragic accident. “I tried not to be too specific because I realize that we can all relate to loss as people,” he says. “Now that song has become about having to lose someone you love.”
He drew on personal romantic history for “Forget About Georgia,” which the title alluding to an ex-girlfriend. “I used to go out with this girl named Georgia,” he says. “And when we stopped seeing each other, it made things hard because I would go out with my dad on tour and play ‘Georgia on My Mind’ with him, and it made it impossible to forget about her.”
Nelson says that “Find Yourself,” which he wrote right after “Forget About Georgia,” is about “taking my power back and owning the love that I deserve.”
“All of the amazing experiences we’ve had have led up to this point,” he told RS in a statement, speaking of the new album as a whole. “We’ve all grown so much – the band as a unit and me as a songwriter. It’s all come together in a really beautiful way, we’re thrilled to finally share this new music with the world.”
Promise of the Real broke out in 2015 after backing Young on his 36th LP, The Monsanto Years, and joining the rock icon on tour. The group appears on Young’s new single “Children of Destiny.”