Jackson Browne has never shied away from using his music as an avenue to espouse his political beliefs. As he’s gearing up to release his 15th studio album, his first since 2014, he’s made sure to continue that theme.
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Browne will be releasing his new album Downhill from Everywhere on July 23 and took part in an extensive interview with The Guardian about the record and why he has no problem continuing to perform political songs that make people uncomfortable.
While the new album sees Browne balance personal and political themes in his lyrics, he believes the two are really one in the same. “What’s more personal than your political belief?” he said. “It’s highly personal.”
Browne acknowledges that there’s a fine line that comes along with performing political tracks, but that comes with the territory. “You try not to preach,” he said. “But the problem is, if you’re too oblique, no one knows what the hell you’re talking about.”
Some of Browne’s bigger songs like “Lives in the Balance” have a palpable uneasiness in the audience when he performs it in concert. Browne said he “could tell people were getting restless” when performing the track. “I said to the audience, ‘I can see that I’m making some of you uncomfortable, but I feel like maybe that’s what I should do.’”
If you’d like to revisit the music that made fans fall in love with Jackson Browne, be sure to listen to The Canyon Exclusive Station playing the breezy ‘70s songs from Browne and more.
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