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Bob Dylan’s Frank Sinatra covers album ‘Shadows in the Night’ to be released Feb. 3

by Jay Gabler

December 09, 2014

News that Bob Dylan is to release an album of Frank Sinatra covers has been leaking out slowly, first with a Dylan representative confirming a new album as Dylan streamed his cover of "Full Moon and Empty Arms," then with a teasing insert in copies of Dylan's new Basement Tapes Complete box set. Now, it's officially officially official: a press release confirms that Dylan's new album Shadows in the Night will consist entirely of Frank Sinatra covers and will be released on Feb. 3.

In the press release, Dylan says, "It was a real privilege to make this album. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time but was never brave enough to approach 30-piece complicated arrangements and refine them down for a five-piece band. That's the key to all these performances. We knew these songs extremely well. It was all done live. Maybe one or two takes. No overdubbing. No vocal booths. No headphones. No separate tracking, and, for the most part, mixed as it was recorded. I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way. They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day."

The album, self-produced under Dylan's alias "Jack Frost" (a reference to his Minnesota heritage?), won't feature the typical hallmarks of vintage ballads: no strings, background vocals, or "obvious horns," according to the press release. Dylan has been closing his live sets—including his three recent shows in Minneapolis—with his cover of "Stay With Me," a song that will be the third track on the new album. Here's the complete track list:

01 I'm a Fool to Want You

02 The Night We Called It a Day

03 Stay With Me

04 Autumn Leaves

05 Why Try to Change Me Now

06 Some Enchanted Evening

07 Full Moon and Empty Arms

08 Where Are You?

09 What'll I Do

10 That Lucky Old Sun

To put this in the context of Dylan's long discography, read our staff's reviews of every Bob Dylan studio album to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAstfMjl408

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