The Piano Man announces the release of a new song on February 1st: Turn The Lights Back On, their first since 2007.
Published yesterday at 11:22 am.
“Did I wait too long… before I turned the lights back on?” asks Billy Joel (“Did I wait too long… to turn the lights back on?”) in this unexpected new song. At least that's what the press release that accompanied yesterday's announcement says; The video posted online on social networks only features a few short and seductive piano notes.
“Turn The Lights Back On,” which, according to the same press release, “embodies all the characteristics of Billy Joel's sound,” is the Long Island bard's first release since “All My Life,” released in 2007 for his wife Katie Lee (from whom he is divorced was) was recorded in 2009) and Christmas in Fallujah, a duet with Cass Dillon, his son-in-law at the time. The legendary 74-year-old singer also released Fantasies & Delusions in 2001, a collection of instrumental pieces performed by his friend, South Korean pianist Hyung-ki Joo.
His last truly full album with actual songs? It was 1993's River of Dreams, a record that really isn't one of his best.
Billy Joel has often confided in interviews that he has always continued to compose music, but music that deviates from the pop-rock format that allowed him to remain permanently at the top of the charts in the 1970s and 1980s. “I don’t feel the need to record this music,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 2009.
However, the Piano Man never left the world of entertainment. Last December, he spoke for the first time about the impending arrival of new material on stage at Madison Square Garden. His monthly stay at the Rangers' home, which began a decade ago, ends July 25.
His last visit to Montreal dates back to June 3, 2009, when he headlined the Face to Face Tour with Elton John. He also took his ivory carvings to the Plains of Abraham during the 2014 Quebec Summer Festival.