The Band Mastermind Taps Into His Decades of Film Work and Human Nature's Darker Corridors on First New Studio Album Since 2011; Featuring Guest Appearances by Van Morrison, Glen Hansard, Citizen Cope, Jim Keltner, Derek Trucks & Doyle Bramhall II

Inspired by his decades of creating and composing music for film and filled with an enthralling set of songs exploring the darker corridors of human nature, Robbie Robertson's aptly titled, evocative new solo album Sinematic is his first new studio album since 2011's introspective How To Become Clairvoyant. For the self-produced 13-song collection, Robertson drew inspiration from his recent film score writing and recording for director Martin Scorsese's eagerly anticipated organized crime epic The Irishman, as well as the forthcoming feature documentary film, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band, based on his 2016 New York Times bestselling memoir Testimony.

Drawn from Scorsese's film and the book it's based on, Charles Brandt's "I Heard You Paint Houses" about confessed hit man Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the album's opening number is a riveting duet with Van Morrison that features bright guitar and a blithe tone that belies its chilling lyrics. Mob code for hiring a hit man, painting houses refers to spattering walls with blood. Opening with Robertson's devilish invitation, "Shall we take a little spin/To the dark side of town?," the track sets the album's stage for more gripping tales of villainy and vice and powerful stories about destruction and despair.

"I was working on music for 'The Irishman' and working on the documentary, and these things were bleeding into each other," says Robertson of the impetus for Sinematic. "I could see a path. Ideas for songs about haunting and violent and beautiful things were swirling together like a movie. You follow that sound and it all starts to take shape right in front of your ears. At some point, I started referring to it as 'Peckinpah Rock'," a nod, Robertson says, to Sam Peckinpah, the late director of such violent Westerns as The Wild Bunch.

Narrated in Robertson's cool parched croon, the yarns unspool over his vibrant guitar stylings and a bedrock of moody, midtempo rock, anchored on most tracks by bassist Pino Palladino (John Mayer Trio, The Who), drummer Chris Dave (D'Angelo, Adele), and keyboardist Martin Pradler, who also mixed the record. The band is rounded out with Afie Jurvanen, who provides guitar and backing vocals, along with vocalist Felicity Williams, a regular collaborator with Jurvanen in his band Bahamas. Robertson is joined on the album by special guest vocalists Van Morrison, Glen Hansard, Citizen Cope, J.S. Ondara, and Laura Satterfield; musicians Jim Keltner, Derek Trucks, Frédéric Yonnet, and Doyle Bramhall II; and producer Howie B who provides throbbing electronic textures to several tracks.