

With the help of faithful collaborators Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham, 2005’s Prairie Wind marks Neil Young's return to the country rock of Harvest and Harvest Moon. It’s a quiet, reflective record haunted by the death of Young's father and his own head-to-head with mortality. While certain songs gently reflect these sobering truths (the stirring "Falling Off the Face of the Earth"), tracks like "The Painter" and "It’s a Dream” contribute fresh simplicity and hazy beauty.