New Releases

Willie Nelson's 79th studio album Dream Chaser explores themes of memory

Dream Chaser is out May 29.

Outlaw country icon Willie Nelson released his 79th studio album today, May 29. (Even Nelson's PR uses a Texas Monthly article to count.) Called Dream Chaser, this 10-track album is all about reflecting on "relationships, personal growth, and life on the road," a press release says.

Dream Chaser is another collaboration between Nelson and producer and songwriter Buddy Cannon. The two have worked together for the past 13 years, totaling 20 albums. Nelson is a co-writer on six of the tracks, most notably "I Can’t Read Your Mind," co-written by Nelson, Cannon, and Bob Dylan.

Nelson discussed the song with GQ at the end of 2025: "Bob Dylan and I were talking a while back about writing a song together," he said. "He had an idea of 'I can’t read your mind.' We started with, 'I can’t read your mind. The letters are too small.' I handed that over to Buddy, and he took it and turned it into a good song. That’s pretty rare with Bob."

Dream Chaser by Willie NelsonAlbum art courtesy of Willie Nelson

The title track, "Dream Chaser," gets right into the emotions of the great artist's old age. Having turned 93 in April, Nelson sings:

"Today I looked in the mirror
And I caught me by surprise
The man I saw lookin' back at me
I almost didn't recognize"

He goes on to reflect on how time "vanishes" and the worry that new song ideas won't arrive — an unlikely scenario while he's alive, now 156 albums deep.

This track sets the tone for the mostly slow and gentle album, with love songs like "Fly Away," which speaks of missing an old relationship, and "Developing My Pictures," (the only song on the album written by just one person, Earl Montgomery) which expresses a desire to believe in a lover despite some discouraging signs.

Even though it's a reflective album, tracks like "Whiskey Wants Me To," which lays the blame on whiskey for the singer's inability to quit the hooch, are funny in Nelson's usual winking way. Nelson didn't co-write that track by Cannon and Bobby Tomberlin, so perhaps we'll guess the 93-year-old isn't trying very hard to quit drinking and write this one off as just a character.

Some tracks fall in between. "After All," an upbeat dance song, also leans into the theme of memory by detailing an affair that can't be forgotten. Neither overly wistful nor ironic, it's the energetic peak of the album and a fun reminder that looking back isn't always a sappy pastime.

Dream Chaser is released by Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment. It's available on CD, vinyl, and digitally on platforms listed here.

Austinites have a chance to see Nelson on the road this summer at his classic Fourth of July event or at concerts in other cities if they want to travel.

Track list: Dream Chaser by Willie Nelson

1. Dream Chaser (Written by Buddy Cannon, Bobby Tomberlin & Willie Nelson)
2. Fly Away (Written by Buddy Cannon & Bobby Whitlock)
3. We’d Make A Good Movie (Written by Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon & Bobby Tomberlin)
4. I Can’t Read Your Mind (Written by Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon & Bob Dylan)
5. Whiskey Wants Me To (Written by Buddy Cannon & Bobby Tomberlin)
6. Wonder What I’m Gonna Do (Written by Willie Nelson & Buddy Cannon)
7. After All (Written by Willie Nelson & Buddy Cannon)
8. Love Overdue (Written by Mickey Raphael, Donald W. Poythress & Anna Lisa Graham)
9. I Don’t Think I’ve Cried Today (Written by Buddy Cannon, Bobby Tomberlin & Willie Nelson)
10. Developing My Pictures (Written by Earl Montgomery)

willie nelson new releases albums

Movie Review

20-year-old YouTube horror creator's Backrooms shows astonishing skill

Photo courtesy of A24

Chiwetel Ejiofor in Backrooms.

YouTube has become such a big part of the culture that it was only a matter of time before content creators started making waves in big screen filmmaking. Interestingly, most of them have made their names in the horror genre, including Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me, Bring Her Back), Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach (the recent Iron Lung), and now Kane Parsons with Backrooms.

Set in 1990, the film centers on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who owns a rundown furniture store in a nondescript city. He is divorced and seemingly depressed, two things that come up in his multiple sessions with his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve). Lately, he has taken to sleeping in the store instead of going home, which allows him to notice strange electrical activity when the lights are supposed to be turned off.

When investigating the issues one night, he discovers a mysterious opening that leads to a completely different structure with a seemingly endless amount of rooms and corridors. Some of them are innocuous and some of them contain strange and creepy elements. With nothing else of interest in his life, Clark returns to the area night after night, eventually drawing in his employee, Kat (Lukita Maxwell), her boyfriend Bobby (Finn Bennett), and Mary.

The 20-year-old Parsons, helped by a number of well-known producers, demonstrates an astonishing level of filmmaking prowess for a first-time feature filmmaker. There is no trace of amateurishness in the progression of the story or the visual style of the film. Whatever confusion arises comes from the plot itself, which is designed to raise way more questions than answers.

Clark’s journey into the bewildering collection of rooms is full of intrigue instead of scares for most of the film, but when Parsons decides to amp things up, he really goes for it. The final third of the film contains some haunting imagery that defies description or explanation. It seems clear that Parsons’ preferred method of storytelling is to keep the audience off-balance, unable to predict what comes next.

What he also seems to understand, however, is that you have to give the audience something to hold on to, and in this case it’s the backstories of Clark and Mary. Both seem to be living differing versions of pathetic, uninteresting lives, but things revealed in their sessions broaden the scope of their stories. The strange world they find seems to reflect their respective traumas, giving a tenuous connection to reality that keeps the film from becoming too frustrating.

Ejiofor and Reinsve, both of whom are Oscar nominees, give the film an air of legitimacy that allows viewers to follow whatever odd roads Parsons wants to go down. Because it’s impossible to tell where the film is heading, the steady acting of Ejiofor and Reinsve is crucial in its success. Maxwell, Bennett, and Mark Duplass are good in brief appearances, but don’t appear enough to have a huge impact.

The ambiguous nature of Backrooms lends it the possibility of becoming a franchise, as Parsons could seemingly take it in any direction he wanted and have it feel part of the larger whole. Given how well done this and other recent films by YouTubers have been, the melding of the two seemingly disparate mediums makes more sense than ever.

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Backrooms opens in theaters on May 29.

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