Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, today released Willie Nelson’s anticipated new studio album Last Leaf on the Tree. His 76th solo studio album and 153rd album overall, Last Leaf on the Tree was produced by his son Micah and finds Nelson covering an eclectic collection of songs by rock legends, idiosyncratic singer songwriters, alt-rock heroes, and indie folk artists, as well as a new recording of Willie’s 1967 song, “The Ghost,” and a new composition by Willie and Micah Nelson together.
Willie Nelson’s Last Leaf on the Tree is available to stream, download, on CD and on amber swirl double LP vinyl. Order HERE.
Read Peter Blackstock’s in-depth essay on the making of The Last Leaf on the Tree HERE
In addition to producing, Micah Nelson played several of the instruments, designed the album cover, and helped create animation for the video of the album’s first single, a cover of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf” alongside his wife, Alexandra Dascalu Nelson. Willie plays his trusty guitar Trigger throughout and the two are joined by a host of celebrated musicians plus guest spots from legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois, John Densmore of The Doors, Senegalese musician Magatte Sow on percussion and harmonica master Mickey Raphael, who has played alongside Willie for over 50 years.
Critics and fans have embraced the album, the song choice and the production:
“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk through a dream with Willie Nelson? To encounter old ghosts and regrets, to peek in on long-ago moments of joy and pain, some seemingly ever-present and others deeply buried, and to have Willie at your side? Not as a tour guide but as a translator, the reassuring, 91-year-old shaman who keeps pulling your focus back to the big picture Truth—that the journey is not a straight line, it’s a circle. That life’s ups and downs are sure enough real; beginnings and ends are not. That is the feeling of listening to Willie’s new album, Last Leaf on the Tree.”
TEXAS MONTHLY
“The title song by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, ‘Keep Me In Your Heart’ by Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderonm and ‘If It Wasn’t Broken’ by LA anarcho-busker Sunny War all stand out as life lessons set to powerful melody and rendered in Willie-sing. His voice is a bit more raw in his 91st year, but that just adds yet more resonance. Long may he run.”
MOJO
“Versions of songs by Beck (“Lost Cause”) and The Flaming Lips (“Do You Realise??”) appear to be odd-couple pairings, but Nelson sounds at home in their countrified airs. The best tracks find him tackling fellow greats, such as a good-natured jug-band take on Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country?” and the incantatory simmer of Nina Simone’s “Come Ye”.”
FINANCIAL TIMES
“a stunning set…adventurous and experimental sonically, astute in its choice of songs, and brilliant in terms of Nelson’s delivery as a singer and a player.”
THE ARTS DESK
“His is the voice of authority, and he’s reminding us how he got to this point, advising us to pray, to relish the moment, to be ready when our moment is over, and to believe we’ll live on in some other form. And when Micah harmonizes with him, you hear the son’s voice, airy and almost tentative, leaning on his dad but also revealing what he’s learned from him. It’s beautiful.”
TEXAS MONTHLY
“Country legend revels in his seniority on superb covers album…these covers fit him like a glove. Tom Waits ‘Last Leaf’ becomes more poignant and defiant…as does a full-on jugband reading of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready For The Country?’…and a a folksy ballad interpretation of The Flaming Lips’ ‘Do You Realize??’…Each features a wonderful tangle of guitar – Nelson’s acoustic strumming, son Micah’s bluesy flourishes and Daniel Lanois’s heartwrenching pedal steel. ”
UNCUT
“Lost Cause”
“of the most emotionally complex songs Beck has written is “Lost Cause,” which is sadder than your average breakup song because it’s more about resignation than remorse… [Nelson’s] voice quivers, the acoustic guitars are nimble, and the cinematic strings shimmer like a diaphanous veil between earth and heaven… Nelson’s “Lost Cause” feels profound as he breathes new life in a dying moment. The recording recalls the way Johnny Cash found new despair in Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” turning Trent Reznor’s heroin horror show into a profound statement on grief and feeling like the last man standing. But Nelson’s song comes with the knowledge that he is the last man standing”
ROLLING STONE
“’Lost Cause’ is one of the saddest, prettiest, altogether greatest songs of all time… So kudos to Micah Nelson for deciding his father Willie should cover it for his autumnal new album Last Leaf On The Tree…Nelson puts his own spin on “Lost Cause” while maintaining the song’s inherent desolation.”
STEREOGUM
“Do You Realize??”
“Willie Nelson’s Take on the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” Is a Masterpiece…. It’s a lovely song, a meditation on the precariousness of life and the choice to find beauty in the realization that our time on this planet is finite. It sounds good when sung by the Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne—but it sounds like something else entirely in Willie’s voice”
TEXAS MONTHLY
“Last Leaf”
“Willie’s latest cover, sourced from Waits’ 2011 album Bad As Me, cuts deeper as the artist bears his soul alone on the mic, singing against a softly stirring backdrop of distant harmonica, shuffling percussion and scattered, atmospheric bass and guitar. His tone is bittersweet and retrospective; proud, peaceful and candid on a difficult topic. At 91, Willie has seen it all, and carries the experience necessary to reflect earnestly and thoughtfully on the finality of life.”
RELIX
“A swirling psychedelic sound introduces the title track, Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s sobering meditation on standing alone in the world. With quivering voice and sure-handed guitar strums, Nelson evokes the fear and trembling of standing on life’s precipice, even as so many of his friends have passed over it, while resisting the grip of death and promising immortality through the power of music”
NO DEPRESSION
“Are You Ready For The Country?”
“Willie and Micah’s chugging take of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country?” outshines both the 1972 original and Waylon Jennings’s 1976 hit cover. With a sawing fiddle, bouncing Jew’s harp, and relentless bursts from Trigger—plus occasional rooster crows and goat bleats—it sounds just like the funky, back-porch-picking party that Micah envisioned.”
TEXAS MONTHLY
“Wheels”
“It’s the arrangements and the unexpected appearances of people like Sam Gendel. His spare playing really defines the recording of Micah’s Particle Kid song “Wheels.” Sam Gendel is a total weirdo. I love him. He is amazing. His playing on that song feels like a crumbling building or something. I love that”
NPR ALL SONGS CONSIDERED
“Color Of Sound”
“One of the best tracks, and one of the loveliest Willie has ever recorded, is one he cowrote with Micah, “Color of Sound.” Over a softly flowing melody breathed through medieval recorders by a friend of Micah’s, the multi-instrumentalist Sam Gendel, Willie sings of fallen trees, homebound roads, and the ‘new beginnings unfolding when the end comes around.’”
TEXAS MONTHLY
“If It Wasn’t Broken”
“I was so excited to see that…Thank you Willie Nelson for recording song by a young, black musician who is changing the game! That says so much about who Willie is. Willie is an amazing mentor. He is truly a champion of young artists”
NPR ALL SONGS CONSIDERED
Willie Nelson – Last Leaf on the Tree
1. Last Leaf (written by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan)
2. If It Wasn’t Broken (written by Sydney Lyndella Ward)
3. Lost Cause (written by Beck David Hansen)
4. Come Ye (written by Nina Simone)
5. Keep Me In Your Heart (written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderon)
6. Robbed Blind (written by Keith Richards)
7. House Where Nobody Lives (written by Tom Waits)
8. Are You Ready For The Country? (written by Neil Young)
9. Do You Realize?? (written by Wayne Coyne/Steven Drozd/Michael Ivins/David Fridmann)
10. Wheels (written by Micah Nelson)
11. Broken Arrow (written by Neil Young)
12. Color Of Sound (written by Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson)
13. The Ghost (written by Willie Nelson)
About Willie Nelson & Legacy Recordings
In February 2012, Willie Nelson entered into an historic new record deal with Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, marking a label homecoming for Nelson, who, from 1975-1993, had cut a phenomenal string of top-selling singles and albums for Columbia Records, beginning with 1975’s seminal smash Red Headed Stranger. New titles by the artist under the Legacy imprint include newly recorded songs and performances as well as archival releases, personally curated by the artist, drawn from all phases of his career including his recordings for RCA Records and others. Since signing with Legacy, Willie Nelson has released 22 albums in just over 12 years and won 4 Grammy Awards.
About Micah Nelson
Composer/multi-media artist Micah Nelson has a remarkable output that spans the creative spectrum. Producing art under the moniker Particle Kid, Micah finds no boundaries in his creativity. Particle Kid has released six albums of his original music, including his most recent release Time Capsule, a 26-song musical journey through time, space, and consciousness. His previous albums – self-titled debut Particle Kid, Everything Is Bullshit, Particle War, Window Rock, Live! Underground – are just part of the catalog of work Nelson has amassed with other artists and musicians. He was chosen by Neil Young to become a member of his band Crazy Horse in 2023, and Nelson was also featured in Young’s full-length film Paradox. On tour year round, Particle Kid has headlined shows around the world as well as opened for many other artists including The Flaming Lips, Tinariwen, Meat Puppets, Claypool Lennon Delirium, and been part of the line up for Luck Reunion, BottleRock Festival, UTOPiAfest, and the Outlaw Music Festival.
