Bob Dylan's upcoming 36th studio album will consist entirely of songs that were previously recorded by Frank Sinatra.
Columbia Records on Tuesday announced a Feb. 3 release date for "Shadows In The Night," and while neither Dylan nor Columbia Records Chairman Rob Stringer referenced Sinatra in their statements that accompanied the announcement, the announced track listing is made up of 10 Sinatra songs, including "Autumn Leaves," "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Stay With Me," a song Dylan had been singing as a concert-closer during his recently completed tour.
Rumors that "Shadows In The Night" would be a "Dylan Sings Sinatra" project started in May, when he unexpectedly released his version of Sinatra's "Full Moon And Empty Arms."
"It was a real privilege to make this album," Dylan said in his statement Tuesday. "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 5-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."
"Shadows In The Night" will be Dylan's first studio album since 2012's critically acclaimed "Tempest," and like all of his albums beginning with 2001's "Love And Theft," Dylan produced it himself - under the pseudonym Jack Frost.
"There are no strings, obvious horns, background vocals or other such devices often found on albums that feature standard ballads," Stringer, the Columbia executive, said in his statement. "Instead, Bob has managed to find a way to infuse these songs with new life and contemporary relevance. It is a brilliant record and we are extremely excited to be presenting it to the world very soon."
The album is available for presale via iTunes and Amazon.com.
Here is the complete track listing for "Shadows In The Night":
1. I'm A Fool To Want You
2. The Night We Called It A Day
3. Stay With Me
4. Autumn Leaves
5. Why Try to Change Me Now
6. Some Enchanted Evening
7. Full Moon And Empty Arms
8. Where Are You?
9. What'll I Do
10. That Lucky Old Sun
