image courtesy of Howlin’ Wuelf Media

Album Review of Willie Nile: The Great Yellow Light

My introduction to Willie Nile‘s music was a fortuitous accident. I was in New York, traveling for work, in the City with one day free in 1998, and one of my favorite artists, Lisa St. Ann, who I had reviewed and interviewed for Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter, was playing at The Mercury Lounge. The other artist on the bill for the late afternoon show was Willie Nile. (I have always loved that you can catch amazing music from before dinner until early morning in the City. There is only one New York!) I mean, he’s Willie Nile – I’ve discovered what that means in the subsequent years – so obviously it was a great concert. A great double-bill. Interestingly, in part because I rarely seek out music because so much more is sent to me than I can possibly review, I haven’t had an opportunity to write about Willie again since wrote a short blurb of that show for GWRN… until now! And it’s been far too long. Before I share some more of my own words about Willie Nile, I’ll share one quote that I was able to find thanks to his promo material – New Yorker called Willie Nile “one of the most brilliant singer-songwriters of the past 30 years.” Well, they’re not wrong.

Willie’s newest album, The Great Yellow Light, his 21st long-playing (LP) recording, is brand spankin’ new – it was just released on June 20, 2025. No, I didn’t turn the review around this quickly. I’m always at least a couple months behind. In this case, I had an advance copy, so I’ve become very familiar with this record over dozens of listens, just as is generally the case with almost everything I review. I am, however, completely psyched to tell you how great this album is, and why you’ve gotta hear it! I know, that’s not exactly a spoiler alert, since I only review my favorite few percent of the music I receive (plus music some I proactively seek out) and, as a result, every review at the Blog is a recommendation.

Every song on this record is unique and original, so I’ll just share this thought – Willie Nile is a meticulous, versatile singer-songwriter and dynamic performer, and this shows throughout his latest album. So many of the songs on this record are energetic, catchy, guitar rock-era potential hits that’ll get you out of your seat. Now, let’s dive in; I’ll share my thoughts on my personal favorites.

photo by Cristina Arrigoni; photo courtesy of Howlin’ Wuelf Media

The record begins with “Wild Wild World,” an energetically raucous, fun rock ‘n roll number. Clever lyrics hint at social awareness, but Willie doesn’t go as deeply into the details as he does elsewhere on the record. Instead, it’s an entertaining song built upon a ’50s and ’60s style pre-psychedelic rock ‘n roll style but with more modern guitar rock energy and hint of lyrical nihilism.

“We Are, We Are” follows, with a Queen-reminiscent guitar opening that becomes an anthem with a singalongable chorus: “We’re young and strong – we are, we are! We’re righting wrongs – we are, we are!” This is the record’s “we can do it!” song, an important motivational listen for those wanting to tackles the social issues Nile mentions elsewhere on the album.

Mostly, though, this is simply a rock ‘n roll album with the occasional issue-driven song. For example, next up, “Electrify Me” is a straight-ahead raucous rocker that plugs a punk rock energy into a fun lyrics-and-guitars rock ‘n roll singer-songwriter song package, replete with a catchy rhythm and thumping beat.

“An Irish Goodbye” is a fun change-of-pace, obviously channeling a good Irish pub song stylistically a bit, but chock full of clever lyrical turns of phrase, channel phrases like “here’s fire in your whiskey, here’s mud in your eye” throughout the song. You’ll find yourself swaying along to the song, trying to memorize the words, and singing along with the parts you remember. Obviously, since the chorus repeats a few times, that’s what you learn first. The whole friggin’ song is fun, though. Also notable, it was recently dubbed “Coolest Song in the World This Week” per Little Steven’s Underground Garage. How cool is that?

You almost feel like the Irish swagger carries over into the vocal delivery on the title track, the steady, straight-ahead rock song “The Great Yellow Light.”

Willie picks up the energy again on rhythmic, almost hoedown-styled, bar-rocker “Tryin’ to Make a Livin’ in the U.S.A.” You know what you’re in for from the lyrics that kick off the first verse: “There’s nothing wrong with a hit record wouldn’t cure. The blues and the clap, yeah, they all can reoccur. But a song on the charts can do a lot of good. Why, I’d run buck-naked through my neighborhood.” It’s a fun romp about the difficulty of making a living as an artist – with some perhaps-exaggerated benefits of writing that elusive hit – that’ll be a quick favorite and leave a smile on your face.

“Fall On Me” is another straight-up mid-tempo rock song emotionally delivered that’ll connect with listeners going through rough times. The album then trends toward the hopeful – at least, that’s the way it plays for me – on “What Color Is Love,” a song that’ll leave a lump in your throat as you listen to Willie’s grizzled vocals, wondering if love will be recognizable.

The big protest song on the record is next, and it’s catchy as all. “Wake Up America” starts a little edgy, with a nervous tempo, including lyrics like “Wake up America. Red, white, and blue. You used to be great. What happened to you?” When the song reaches the first chorus, the music becomes richer and louder. Stylistically, it has a Mellencamp-ish feel. Or maybe, though stylistically quite different, it gives off that old Coca-Cola commercial vibe, with everyone holding hands singing “I’d like to teach the world to sing.” The song intensifies on the back half, with lyrics like “Wake up America. Do you know who I am? I’m one of the millions. Do you even give a damn. I’m the son of immigrants, I’m a daughter of slaves. I’m Native indigenous, stop digging my grave.” It’s a really hopeful song with a positive energy, despite lyrics that sometimes point out faults. The closing lyrics of “open your eyes, open your eyes” pleadingly offer the solution.

The song closes with a soaring, flowing number, “Washington’s Day,” that also touches upon social issues but stylistically feels uplifting, leaving the listener with a good, warm feeling after a listen to the complete record. And it’s a helluva record! An instant rock ‘n roll classic from longtime critically acclaimed rock troubadour Willie Nile.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long into my writing career to review a Willie Nile record. Well, if you’re not familiar with him – or if you know of him but don’t yet own one of his records – The Great Yellow Light would be a great place to start. It’s a helluva disc! And if you’re already familiar with Willie Nile – which, I’m pretty sure, includes everyone within a 100 mile radius of New York, plus a whole lot of lucky people elsewhere – you just need to know this: Willie has a new album out. If you haven’t yet, be sure to get a copy of The Great Yellow Light. It won’t surprise you at all that this record kicks ass!

Looking Ahead

I feel lucky to have caught Willie Nile live once, but that was back in the 20th century, so I probably need to see him perform again. The “Shows” page of his website lists a smattering of shows on the east coast, in the middle of the country (MO, OK, TX), and one in Vancouver, BC, but nothing particularly close to me. I’ll keep an eye out for additions. And if you don’t spot anything near you at the moment, I’d suggest checking back periodically, too.