Bruce Springsteen Album WESTERN STARS Out June 14, New Single Premieres Today

Variety reports that Bruce Springsteen's long-awaited album "Western Stars" will be released on June 14. Its first single, "Hello Sunshine," will be released just after midnight tonight.

This first new studio album in five years "takes [Springsteen's] music to a new place, drawing inspiration in part from the Southern California pop records of the late '60s and early '70s. The 13 tracks of 'Western Stars' encompass a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope."

"This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements," Springsteen said. "It's a jewel box of a record."

The album was completed before his "The River" tour begun 3 years ago. In 2017, he told Variety: "That album is influenced by Southern California pop music of the '70s: Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb, Burt Bacharach, those kinds of records. I don't know if people will hear those influences, but that was what I had in my mind. It gave me something to hook an album around; it gave me some inspiration to write. And also, it's a singer-songwriter record. It's connected to my solo records writing-wise, more 'Tunnel of Love' and 'Devils and Dust,' but it's not like them at all. Just different characters living their lives."

"Western Stars" tracklist
1. Hitch Hikin'
2. The Wayfarer
3. Tucson Train
4. Western Stars
5. Sleepy Joe's Café
6. Drive Fast (The Stuntman)
7. Chasin' Wild Horses
8. Sundown
9. Somewhere North of Nashville
10. Stones
11. There Goes My Miracle
12. Hello Sunshine
13. Moonlight Motel

Read the original story on Variety.