The Band’s Northern Lights-Southern Cross is, in nearly every respect, the group’s studio swan song. The band’s sixth album is also one of its finest works, a finely textured collection that at the time of its 1975 release marked the quintet’s first album of new material in four years. Anchored by the standards “Acadian Driftwood,” “Ophelia,” and “It Makes No Difference,” the set finds the collective in peak form. 

 

The Band had been rejuvenated after touring with Bob Dylan and reconnecting with the same muse responsible for inspiring its landmark debut. In addition, the group came to the realization that it worked better when operating outside of traditional recording studios. Akin to Music From Big Pink and The Band, sessions for Northern Lights-Southern Cross occurred within a clubhouse-like atmosphere - specifically, a converted Malibu ranch/bordello they called Shangri-La.