Bruce Springsteen just dropped the musical equivalent of finding a forgotten Polaroid tucked in an old jacket — and it’s way more fascinating than anyone could have expected.
“Blind Spot,” released Thursday morning, reveals The Boss’s brief, somewhat mystifying venture into hip-hop territory during the mid-’90s. The track emerges from his soon-to-be-released Tracks II: The Lost Albums collection, a massive 83-song archive that’s about to reshape everything we thought we knew about Springsteen’s creative journey.
Let that sink in for a moment: Bruce Springsteen — the voice of blue-collar America, the poet laureate of the Jersey Shore — was apparently vibing to West Coast rap beats while crafting loops in his LA studio. It’s like discovering your dad had a secret life as a DJ.
The song itself? Well, it’s something else entirely. Opening with what can only be described as a mechanical grunt laid over programmed beats (yeah, you read that right), “Blind Spot” immediately signals its departure from the guitar-driven anthems we’ve come to expect from Springsteen. “We inhabited each other/ Like it was some kind of disease,” he croons with an almost ghostly quality that somehow… works? The chorus hits home with a universal truth about relationship blind spots, though delivered through an unexpectedly modern lens.
This surprising detour traces back to 1994, right after Springsteen scored big with “Streets of Philadelphia.” That Oscar- and Grammy-winning track apparently sparked something in the rock icon — a creative itch that led him down an unexpected rabbit hole of musical experimentation.
“I don’t really know why,” Springsteen admits in a recent statement, adding with characteristic casualness, “Patti and I, we were having a great time in California. But sometimes if you lock into one song you like, then you follow that thread.”
That thread? It led to The Streets of Philadelphia Sessions — or the “loops record,” as die-hard fans have whispered about for years. Picture it: The Boss, surrounded by stacks of CDs, studying drum samples like he once studied Woody Guthrie lyrics. Working with engineer Toby Scott, he crafted an entire album that nearly saw the light of day in spring 1995.
But fate (and the E Street Band) had other plans. The album got shelved when Springsteen reunited with his longtime bandmates after a seven-year hiatus. Until now, that is.
Come June 27, Tracks II will finally unveil these hidden gems through seven complete albums spanning 1983 to 2018. From the raw energy of LA Garage Sessions ’83 to the twang-tinged Somewhere North of Nashville, each collection promises to illuminate different corners of Springsteen’s artistic wanderlust.
“I always really liked Streets of Philadelphia Sessions,” Springsteen reflects. “During the Broadway show, I thought of putting it out [as a standalone release]. I always put them away, but I don’t throw them away.” Thank goodness for that pack-rat tendency — fans can soon dive into this treasure trove via a limited-edition 9-LP set, 7-CD collection, or digital release, complete with a cloth-bound book packed with rare photos.
In an age where AI-generated music threatens to sanitize creativity into algorithmic perfection, there’s something beautifully human about these creative detours. “Blind Spot” stands as proof that even rock’s most steadfast voices sometimes find their groove in unexpected places — and thank goodness they do.
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