Sean Michaels
the guardian.com
Friday 25 July 2014 08.53 BST
The music on 24 Karat Gold – Songs from the Vault represents ‘the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken-hearted and the survivors’, Nicks says
Stevie Nicks has announced details of a new solo album comprised of songs written almost half a century ago. 24 Karat Gold – Songs from the Vault was inspired by Nicks’ dozens of unreleased bootlegs, from which she recently rerecorded a selection of songs in Nashville.
“These songs are the memories – the 24-carat gold rings in the blue box,” Nicks said. “Each song has a soul … They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken-hearted and the survivors.”
Beloved as these songs may be to her, it appears Nicks lost track of them: the singer used YouTube to uncover unfinished material that was being traded by fans. “[They’re] songs that, somehow, were taken from my house or picked up or loaned out or whatever,” she told the Associated Press in May. Working with co-producers Waddy Wachtel and Dave Stewart, she laid down 18 old tracks in three quick weeks – the “fastest I have ever recorded”.
Most of 24 Karat Gold was written between 1969 and 1987, with two more tunes from the mid-1990s. In keeping with the nostalgic theme, the album’s artwork will be peppered with candid Polaroids of Nicks throughout her career. A deluxe version of the album includes 48 pages of pictures from the 66-year-old’s private collection.
Although Nicks’ new full-length is her first studio album since 2011, it seems to have been an obstacle to her work with Fleetwood Mac. Earlier this year, the group revealed that Nicks was absent from their own initial recording sessions. “There are parts for Stevie to sing on all of these songs, which she will do eventually,” Christine McVie said. After a 19-year hiatus, McVie returned to Fleetwood Mac in January; they are staging a reunion tour this autumn, with an album expected next year.
24 Karat Gold will be released as a double vinyl LP on 29 September, with the regular version following on Warner Bros on 7 October.