Robbie Robertson Announces New Album ‘Sinematic’ & Shares Single Featuring Van Morrison

Robbie Robertson will release a new solo album, Sinematic, on September 20 via UMe. The Band guitarist shared the album’s lead single, “I Hear You Paint Houses” featuring Van Morrison.

Robertson’s new album coincides with the September 5 premiere of the documentary film Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band at the Toronto International Film Festival. The 13-track album was produced by Robertson and recorded with bassist Pino Palladino, keyboardist Martin Pradler, drummer Chris Dave, guitarist Afie Jurvanen and vocalist Felicity Williams. Guests besides Morrison contributing to Sinematic include Jim Keltner, Derek Trucks, Citizen Cope, J.S. Ondara, Laura Satterfield, Frédéric Yonnnet and Howie B. The instrumental “Remembrance,” written for the late Paul Allen, features guitarists Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II and renowned drummer Jim Keltner.

Robertson’s follow-up to 2011’s How To Become Clairvoyant was inspired by his work creating music for film, including the forthcoming Martin Scorcese-directed The Irishman. “I Hear You Paint Houses” takes its title from the Charles Brandt book about former mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran that served as the basis for Scorcese’s film.

“I was working on music for The Irishman and working on the documentary, and these things were bleeding into each other,” Robertson stated. “I could see a path. Ideas for songs about haunting and violent and beautiful things were swirling together like a movie. You follow that sound and it all starts to take shape right in front of your ears. At some point, I started referring to it as ‘Peckinpah Rock.’” (after the late Sam Peckinpah who directed several Westerns including The Wild Bunch)

A deluxe edition of Sinematic, limited to 1000 copies, will be issued on October 25 containing CD and 180-gram 2LP vinyl versions of the album, with a 36-page hardcover book presenting custom artwork Robertson made for each of the 13 tracks. Stream “I Hear You Paint Houses” featuring Van Morrison below: