Album Review: Willie Nelson, Dream Chaser

In this, the twilight of the rock gods, some of the pioneering figures in 20th century music are contemplating the finality of it all. The fading into the great beyond appears to be on the mind of Paul McCartney with his new LP, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane – named after a hangout from his misspent childhood.

And it is certainly front and centre on 93-year-old Willie Nelson’s Dream Chaser, a grippingly bittersweet survey of life, ageing – and whatever comes next. The big talking point around the record is ‘I Can’t Read Your Mind’, a sweetly effusive co-write with Bob Dylan – their first since Across The Borderline in 1993, and a tune steeped in languid slide guitar and soaring harmonica.

“I’ll tell you anything you want… but I can’t read your mind,” croons Nelson – exactly what you’d say seated opposite Dylan in a studio. Elsewhere, this melancholic, never maudlin collection sees country’s last living outlaw looking at his reflection and astonished at the wizened figure glaring back ('Dream Chaser’), and celebrating the cinematic majesty of a grand life, spent largely in the fast lane (‘We’d Make A Good Movie’).

This far into his career, Nelson isn’t one for frightening the livestock. To that end, Dream Chaser employs a familiar palette of smooth arrangements, while his vocals have a honeyed texture – wisdom mixed with a determination to keep the fires ablaze.

Still, there’s no doubt Nelson feels he has one foot in the departure lounge. “I’m developing my pictures / My mind is a dark room,” he declares on closer ‘Developing My Pictures’. But he sounds amused rather than sad: if the sun is going down, then the message here is that Nelson is determined to catch every last ray going.

7/10