Yusuf/Cat Stevens Announces ‘Tea For Tillerman 2’ & Shares ‘Where Do The Children Play’

Yusuf / Cat Stevens announced the release of Tea For Tillerman 2 on September 18 via UMe. The legendary singer-songwriter also shared the single, “Where Do The Children Play?”

Tea For The Tillerman 2 is a reimagining of Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ iconic 1970 album of the same name, one that defined an era and cemented a 22-year-old Cat Stevens as one of the top singer-songwriters of all time.

“Though my songwriting adventures were never limited to Tillerman, the songs on that album certainly defined me and pointed the way for my mysterious life’s journey,” Yusef/Cat Stevens related in a statement. “Since those originative sessions in Morgan Studios, Willesden, in 1970, Tillerman has grown and developed its own gravitas and influence on music history and as the soundtrack to so many people’s lives.”

1970 saw the world in a tumultuous time and the message of Tillerman is just as relevant today as it was half a century ago. “Like it was destiny waiting to happen,” Yusuf continued, “T4TT² feels like the timing of its message has arrived again.”

Fittingly, the idea for Tea For The Tillerman 2 grew out of a conversation Yusef/Cat Stevens had with his son (the penultimate track on the album is “Father & Son”) and Yusef teamed back up with some of the same players who helped him make the original album including producer Paul Samwell-Smith and Alun Davies on guitar. The singer-songwriter also tapped a number of his steady collaborators over the years like bassist Bruce Lynch from his live band in the ‘70s as well as members of his current band multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah and guitarist Eric Appapoulay. Keyboardist Peter Vettese and guitarist Jim Cregan round out the lineup.

Even the album’s iconic cover received a 21st century update with the Tillerman wearing a spacesuit and the children playing around him, Grady and Timmy, streaming music on wireless headphones and gaming on phones. Those children represented the LP’s opening track, “Where Do The Children Play?,” which is the first single Yusef/Cat Stevens chose to release from Tea For The Tillerman 2. Listen to it below:

Tea For The Tillerman 2 Tracklist:

1. Where Do The Children Play?
2. Hard Headed Woman
3. Wild World
4. Sad Lisa
5. Miles From Nowhere
6. But I Might Die Tonight
7. Longer Boats
8. Into White
9. On The Road To Find Out
10. Father And Son
11. Tea For The Tillerman