Bruce Springsteen has shared his unreleased song “Blind Spot,” the “thematic center” of his Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, one of the seven LPs that have been unearthed for the upcoming Tracks II: The Lost Albums.
Informally known as the “Drum Loop” album and inspired by contemporary music like hip-hop at the time, Streets of Philadelphia Sessions was recorded in the mid-Nineties at Springsteen’s Los Angeles home, with Springsteen serving as the primary instrumentalist with some help from his touring band at the time.
“Blind Spot,” like much of the Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, focuses on doubt and betrayal in a relationship. “That was just the theme that I locked in on at that moment,” Springsteen said in a statement of the song. “I don’t really know why. Patti and I, we were having a great time in California. But sometimes if you lock into one song you like, then you follow that thread. I had ‘Blind Spot,’ and I followed that thread through the rest of the record.”
Although Streets of Philadelphia Sessions were completed and mixed for a spring 1995 release, Springsteen opted to shelve the album and instead reunite with the E Street Band. “I said, ‘Well, maybe it’s time to just do something with the band, or remind the fans of the band, or that part of my work life,’” Springsteen added. “So that’s where we went. But I always really liked ‘Streets of Philadelphia Sessions’…during the Broadway show, I thought of putting it out [as a standalone release]. I always put them away, but I don’t throw them away.”
Tracks II, due out June 27, begins with L.A. Garage Sessions ’83, which Springsteen recorded in the interim between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. The box set also features Somewhere North of Nashville — from that aforementioned E Street reunion in May 1995 — and Inyo, a collection of songs from the road while promoting The Ghost of Tim Joad between 1995 and 1997.
Perfect World spotlights several songs he wrote with longtime collaborator Joe Grushecky, the songs on Faithless were recorded in 2005 and 2006 for a film that has yet to be made, and Twilight Hours was created at the same time as Western Stars in 2018 and is essentially a companion album.
“The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” Springsteen previously said in a statement. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”
