Watch animated video for Neil Young’s Peace Trail

A still from the video
A still from the video

Neil Young has released an animated video for Peace Trail – the title track from his 2016 album.

The promo was directed by Darcy Prendergast and Mike Greaney and shows natural landscapes, mountainsides and wildlife being overtaken by motorways, gas stations and smoke-billowing factories.

Speaking about the video, the duo tell NPR that the track inspired them to use a traditional approach to a “rich, organic, Neil Young sound.”

They continue: “We felt the paint-on-glass technique was the most symbiotic. This approach, combined with the painterly compositions of sweeping American landscapes, is narratively served up as a love letter to the older generation.”

Young had planned to tour in support of Peace Trail this year, but scrapped those plans according to an interview in Rolling Stone. He’s working on a TV show about the cross-country trip in his electric car and also writing a book.

He said: “I’ve got a lot to do without touring. I’m actually just focusing now on recordings for awhile.”

Last year, Young stood with the protestors at the North Dakota oil pipeline. He arrived on his 71st birthday and performed a number of songs for activists who opposed the controversial $3.7billion project – and later slammed the “ugliness of corporate America” and the heavy-handed tactics used by police against “peaceful water protectors.”

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.