After issuing his recent work on Rhino and Nonesuch, Beach Boys principal Brian Wilson returns to Capitol Records for the release this week of his next album, “That Lucky Old Sun.”
“That Lucky Old Sun,” which centers around the Southern California of Wilson’s youth, was premiered last September at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The work comprises 11 new songs plus four spoken narratives written by longtime collaborator Van Dyke Parks and a vocal excerpt.
It’s Wilson’s first new studio album since 2004’s “Gettin’ in Over My Head.” Also that year, he completed work on the long-unfinished album “Smile,” originally intended for release by the Beach Boys in the mid-1960s.
There’s a stage-worthy veneer to the entire project as well as some frank autobiographical allusions — “At 25 I turned out the light/’Cause I couldn’t handle the glare in my tired eyes,” Wilson sings at one point — all affirming his reputation as one of the master pop craftsmen of our time.
