Neil worked with producer Daniel Lanois on the new disc, recorded at Lanois’ L.A. home. What originally began as an acoustic project turned electric. “(It) was not a deliberate move or anything," Lanois told Billboard.com. “Neil was able to go off and write some additional songs, and I think there was a subconscious force at play that brought this material to the table for us."
Neil Young – The making of Le Noise (2010)
Songs were recorded a few at a time, during full moon or new moon sessions. Young and Lanois also captured everything on video, as it happened. "We've been developing this simple philosophy that, as the magic moment is unfolding musically, let the lense capture it with one camera," said Lanois. Adam Vollick created films to accompany each of the eight tracks.
Neil Young – Angry World (2010)
"It evolved from being solo acoustic into being solo electric," said Neil. The breakthrough came while recording “The Hitchhiker," an autobiographical song he wrote around 1975. "Then I thought to myself, 'This is definitely going to be better electric than acoustic. So we tried it, and it sounded really interesting and really good and strong...So I went home and got my white [Gretsch] Falcon out...and I wrote a sound or two like that and then brought them in and that kind of opened the door for us."
Neil Young – The Hitchhiker (2010)
