Randy Newman Returns With First Album In 9 Years

May 02, 2008, 10:50 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Randy Newman is set to release his first album of new material in nine years. "Harps and Angels," produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, arrives via Nonesuch on Aug. 5.

"A Few Words in Defense of My Country," a single released exclusively to iTunes last year, will be included in the track list.

Newman's 2003 hits collection, "The Randy Newman Songbook: Vol. 1," was the singer/songwriter's last release and first for Nonesuch. His last original set, "Bad Love," was released in 1999. His highest Billboard 200 charting album was 1978's "Little Criminals," which peaked at No. 9.

Newman, 64, has a handful of performances planned for the month of May, plus a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the Fourth of July weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.

He's slated for a show at this year's New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 1 and another symphony-backed show in Denver on May 23. He will perform solo May 4 in St. Louis and May 5 and 6 in Iowa City, Iowa.

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Randy Newman's first studio album of all new material in nearly a decade is, by turns, hilarious, poignant and scathingly satirical. [title]Harps and Angels[/title] often has an easy going Crescent City feel, with Newman on piano fronting a small combo and revealing, as Rolling Stone put it after the Carnegie Hall show, his serious love and study of the New Orleans piano tradition.

1. Harps and Angels 5:07
2. Losing You 2:40
3. Laugh and Be Happy 2:17
4. A Few Words in Defense of Our Country 4:14
5. A Piece of the Pie 2:41
6. Easy Street 3:14
7. Korean Parents 3:26
8. Only a Girl 2:44
9. Potholes 3:39
10. Feels Like Home 4:37

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AN5BNM/?tag=imwan-20