Neil Diamond’s highly anticipated new Columbia album, which pairs the singer/songwriter with producer Rick Rubin, has been pushed back to Nov. 8, Billboard has learned.
The as-yet-untitled project was originally slated to come out this summer, in conjunction with Diamond’s U.S. tour, which kicked off July 25 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. It was then moved to Sept. 6.
According to a source, this latest move was made to give Columbia more time to set up the album, as it is now considered one of the label’s top holiday projects.
“We’re mixing it, and it’s going great,” Rubin tells Billboard. “It’s mostly acoustic. It’s a very personal record. It’s stripped-down Neil. I think you’ll get to hear him in a way like you’ve never heard him before or like you heard him a long time ago. But I think it’s different from anything you’ve heard from him before.”
The set will be Diamond’s first album of original material since 2001’s “Three Chord Opera,” which debuted at No. 15 on The Billboard 200 and has sold more than 426,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Diamond’s latest tour has opened to rave reviews, its set list spanning the performer’s sizable catalog of hits. The 28-song show features everything from “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Play Me,” “Forever in Blue Jeans” and “America” to more obscure fare such as “Crunchy Granola Suite,” “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” and “Signs.”
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