Produced by the now legendary Rick Rubin, whose credits include Johnny Cash and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 12 songs is a folksy song driven album of wistful pop and spare melodies. Rubin reigns in the singer’s potential for overwrought wedding anthems allowing the guitar and Diamond’s wonderful seductive baritone voice to take centre stage. The result is a wonderful return to form for the iconic crooner.

Since the release of "Cherry Cherry" in the 60s, Neil Diamond has never failed to surprise and delight his fans with fresh approaches to the music that moves him the most deeply. 12 SONGS is the first studio album from Diamond in four years.

It sees the archetypal American pop singer-songwriter joining forces with legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin's production history spans the hip-hop of LL Cool J to Jay-Z, the world of hardcore rock from Slayer to System Of A Down, and the pantheon of stars from Tom Petty and Donovan to Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash's immortal Grammy-winning AMERICAN RECORDINGS series. Producing a Neil Diamond album has been a long-held dream of Rubin's. "After the first few meetings," writes Neil Diamond in his revelatory liner notes to 12 SONGS, "I realized (Rick) loved music in the same way I did."

The result of this creative collaboration is an album that takes Diamond back to his singer-songwriter days (this is the man who penned "Solitary Man"!) The authenticity that seeps through 12 SONGS comes from the recording process. "Most of the songs were recorded with Neil playing and singing at the same time," said Rubin in a Rolling Stone article. "It's a different animal. It's taking him back to being more of a singer-songwriter. He really blows me away."

When it came time to record the album, Rubin assembled a sympathetic ensemble of musicians to capture the essence of Neil Diamond's extraordinary new songs. A core group of musicians made up of Mike Campbell (guitar) and Benmont Tench (piano/organ) from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and guitarist Smokey Hormel (Beck, Tom Waits) and other musicians including the renowned Larry Knechtel (piano) and Billy Preston (organ) played on the album.

With the arrival of 12 SONGS, Neil Diamond delivers some of the most direct, honest, and heartfelt music of his career. Distilling the genius of Neil Diamond down to its very essence, 12 SONGS celebrates the most magical of relationships: the marriage between the singer and the song.

Disc 1