That twang you’re hearing isn’t from some Nashville newcomer—it’s the Boss himself, revealing a hidden country chapter from his storied career. With the release of “Repo Man,” Bruce Springsteen unveils the first taste of “Somewhere North of Nashville,” a complete country album recorded in 1995 that’s been sitting in his legendary vault like a vintage guitar waiting to be strummed again.
The track features E Street Band members Danny Federici and Garry Tallent backing Springsteen’s vocals. Far from a casual side trail, this album represents a full expedition into country territory, created alongside “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Like a farmer tending different fields at once, Springsteen was cultivating multiple musical crops during this fertile mid-90s period.
“Repo Man” emerges as part of “Tracks II: The Lost Albums,” dropping June 27. This box set contains seven complete unreleased albums spanning 1983 to 2018, serving up 83 tracks that showcase Springsteen’s creative harvest. The collection feels like stumbling upon a secret root cellar stocked with perfectly preserved musical provisions from seasons past.
These “lost albums” add new rings to Springsteen’s artistic tree. While fans traced his growth from street poet to stadium rocker to folk storyteller, these recordings reveal branches that grew in parallel, previously unseen. The country-tinged “Somewhere North of Nashville” sprouted from the same soil that nourished “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” showing how versatile his musical roots truly are.
“Repo Man” proves Springsteen can slip into country boots without losing his storytelling stride. His exploration into country music wasn’t just a brief detour, but a full journey that remained unmapped until now. Like a mountain stream with hidden tributaries, Springsteen’s musical flow took directions fans never got to follow—until today.
“The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” Springsteen noted. “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.”
The box set includes six other complete albums spanning decades: “Perfect World,” “L.A. Garage Sessions ’83,” “Streets of Philadelphia Sessions,” “Inyo,” “Faithless,” and “Twilight Hours.” Each carries its own distinct musical climate, from the starlit orchestral landscape of “Twilight Hours” (2018) to the raw, sun-baked terrain of “L.A. Garage Sessions” (1983).
The release marks more than just an addition to Springsteen’s catalog. In today’s streaming era, where songs flow like irrigation water through digital channels, these archival releases provide both artistic fulfillment and new listening pathways. They’re musical time capsules, preserved and finally unearthed.
“The ability to record at home whenever I wanted allowed me to go into a wide variety of different musical directions,” Springsteen explained, like a craftsman with multiple workshops maintaining different projects simultaneously.
“Tracks II” arrives in multiple formats: a deluxe package with 9 LPs or 7 CDs, plus a 100-page hardcover book filled with rare photos and detailed notes. Digital listeners get all 83 tracks on streaming platforms the same day.
As the Boss unlocks his hidden country album after decades, it joins a wave of legendary vault-openings this summer—like Metallica’s upcoming 15-CD “Load” box set with 245 unreleased tracks dropping just two weeks earlier on June 13—suggesting a golden age for fans of music’s buried treasures.
Springsteen finalized this project during the pandemic, revisiting decades of unreleased material like a composer finally completing unfinished symphonies. Now touring Europe with the E Street Band through July 2025, the question hangs in the concert air: will these once-shelved songs finally echo through arena speakers? For fans, that potential feels as promising as the first notes of a beloved encore.
