VIA PRESS RELEASE | It’s a rare thing for an artist to dedicate an entire record to his wife. Love Songs for Leah dropped August 15, the anniversary of Neil and Leah’s first date, a week-long extravaganza that somehow included a wedding, a funeral, and a road trip in a Mustang convertible to Atlantic City to catch a Bob Dylan concert.
The album that followed is just as unpredictable. This is no greeting-card collection, it’s the intimate longing to know and be known fully by your partner, set to country rock, folk rock, power pop, Americana, and alt-country. The mix tape of a marriage, featuring songs of domestic bliss, sorry-the-fight-was-my-fault songs, and wooing songs. “When You Love Somebody” rides a Traveling Wilburys-worthy chorus and drops a sly nod to Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With” along the way. It was a finalist for Song of the Year as voted by Lenny Kravitz, Dave Grohl,, and Steven Tyler.
There’s a high-energy arena-sized cover of The Pogues’ “Love You Til the End.” And the whole thing closes with a tender take on Andrew Gold’s “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the song Leah sang to Neil in her vows at their Central Park wedding.
“This record has breakup songs, barstool confessions, and a Golden Girls cover. I wrote it for Leah, but my hope is that anyone who’s ever been in love, or blown it, hears their story too.” Love Songs for Leah is the whole messy, magnificent story, not just the honeymoon, but the jokes, the arguments, the make-ups, and the decision, every single day, to choose each other all over again.
Neil Nathan’s all star collaborators include members of The Raconteurs, Elle King, Wild Pink, Magnolia Electric Company, and Midlake. His songs have been in regular rotation on Sirius/XM’s The Coffeehouse and on Amazon Music’s Birthday Blowout Playlist.
They’ve also been featured on Showtime’s Californication soundtrack, ESPN, NHL Network, PBS, and the films Return (Michael Shannon, Linda Cardellini) and Descent (Rosario Dawson). Rosario also starred in Neil’s “California Run” music video. His song “When You Love Somebody” was a Rock Finalist for Song of The Year as judged by Dave Grohl and Lenny Kravitz. Neil’s songs are cosmic country, folk rock, power pop, glam, and Americana.
