Shadow Kingdom

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The performance of " Forever Young" from Har'el's film was released as a standalone video on June 2, 2023. Shadow Kingdom presents Dylan performing revelatory 21st century versions of songs from his storied back catalogue – including fan favourites like “Forever Young” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and deep catalogue gems like “Queen Jane Approximately” and “Wicked Messenger.

Drawn from a 2021 live stream with Dylan revisiting his past through the prism of his current sound. A Rolling Stone review by Michaelangelo Matos named Shadow Kingdom one of the "Hear This" recommended albums for the month of June 2023, claiming that Dylan makes his classic songs "seem stunningly brand new".

What Bob has done is to go back to key albums in the 60s and 70s, with one title from Oh Mercy from 1989, and re-recorded some less obvious songs. It’s particularly impressive on What Was It You Wanted, a cut from 1989’s Oh Mercy that doesn’t seem especially ‘Early’ until you realise it was recorded 27 years into Dylan’s career, and that 34 years have subsequently elapsed.

Une forme d'épuration grâce à un retour à une orchestration très acoustique, de la musique sans rajout, le tout très intimiste. It marked his first concert performance since December 2019, and first performance since his universally acclaimed album Rough and Rowdy Ways. Originally reinterpreted for an exclusive streaming film event, which aired in July 2021, Shadow Kingdom will now be available on vinyl, CD, and streaming platforms for the first time. The album’s setlist includes 13 original songs handpicked by Dylan for his Shadow Kingdom performance plus the closing instrumental, “ Sierra’s Theme.

Tim Cumming, writing at The Arts Desk, noted that the "best song performances – " Queen Jane Approximately", " Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and " Tombstone Blues" from Highway 61, a poignant " Forever Young" and a killer version of "What Was it you Wanted", one I may never hear bettered – make this required listening when it comes to later-period Bob, a rare look back in studio conditions, and from a high point in his career". It has always been easy to read stuff into Dylan's work which is not there, but the choice of songs / lyrics for this set do suggest a muted farewell to the faithful, particularly Watching the river flow and When I paint my masterpiece. This, perhaps, is the key to Shadow Kingdom, and a decent artistic reason – the commercial expediencies being self-evident – why Dylan has chosen to release the show as an album now. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

Writing in Uncut, Richard Williams rated the album four out of five stars, arguing that its sound seemingly grew out of Dylan's previous album Rough and Rowdy Ways.Sung in an acoustic sertting, with a 'one-take' feel, they are, as you'd expect, noticably different from the originals.