Bob Dylan announces entire album of Frank Sinatra covers

You can say this for Bob Dylan: he never does what you'd expect. On Tuesday, Dylan announced that his 36th studio album, Shadows in the Night, will consist of nothing but Frank Sinatra covers, including "I'm a Fool to Want You," "Autumn Leaves," and "Some Enchanted Evening."

"It was a real privilege to make this album," said Dylan in a statement. "I've wanted to do something like this for a long time but was never brave enough to approach 30-piece complicated arrangements and refine them down for a 5-piece band. That's the key to all these performances. We knew these songs extremely well."

Dylan also disputed the idea that an entire album of Frank Sinatra covers was, in fact, a cover album. "I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way. They've been covered enough," he said. "Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Shadows in the Night will be released on February 3, 2015.