Of the song, Nelson shares, “Leave ‘Em Behind is one of my favorite tracks on the album. I wrote it about a friend who was in an abusive relationship…and as we saw the domestic abuse numbers climb during the pandemic, I was moved to write this song.” The track is the second unveiled from the band’s highly anticipated new album, A Few Stars Apart, which will be released June 11 on Fantasy Records and is now available for pre-order. Already one of Rolling Stone’s 54 Most Anticipated Albums of 2021, A Few Stars Apart is a testament to finding a human connection: between close family and friends, as well as one’s own heart. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer, Dave Cobb, the album was inspired by the stillness Nelson found while riding out the beginning of the pandemic with his family in Texas and was recorded live on eight-track tape over three weeks at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A.
Across the album’s eleven new songs, including lead single, Perennial Bloom (Back To You), the band reveals what it means to come home again, to be still, and to find community—and yourself. Released to critical acclaim, Rolling Stone praises Perennial Bloom, asserting, “the track explodes into a euphoric prediction of better days on the horizon…a tight, radio-ready single,” while American Songwriter declares, “Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real instill hope for a reconnected future.”
“I’m from what one might say is the ultimate road family—I’ve been on the road my entire life,” shares Nelson. “I’ve never been anywhere longer than three months, and suddenly here we are, the four of us together. And thank god we were together. I can’t remember the last time we had that much time together as a family. We had a lot of really important bonding that happened during that time. And I have to say, as terrible as the pandemic has been in so many ways, for my inner peace, I was able to take a lot of good from this time. I was able to pause and reflect.”
He continues, “It took me a really long time to come back to the home in my heart. In a physical sense, that’s Texas and Hawaii. But in a spiritual sense as well—I think I finally decided not to run from who I am and who I am destined to be. First and foremost, that’s a songwriter. That’s what this record means to me. There’s a story being told through the whole record. A story about connection and coming home.”
Based in Texas and Hawaii, Promise of the Real is: Lukas Nelson (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano), Anthony LoGerfo (drums, percussion, tambourine), Corey McCormick (bass guitar, upright bass, Mellotron, vocals), Tato Melgar (percussion) and Logan Metz (piano, Wurlitzer, B3 organ, lap steel, banjo, Mellotron, vocals). Since their debut over a decade ago, the acclaimed band have toured relentlessly playing countless sold-out one-night shows and festivals around the world and occasionally serving as Neil Young’s road band. Nelson also co-produced the music for 2018’s lauded A Star Is Born film in addition to appearing in the film with the band and went on to win a BAFTA Award for Best Original Music and a GRAMMY Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for his work.
