Before This World

It was his first album of original material since October Road in 2002. Concerned he might never write another, Taylor cut off communication with family, friends and his manager and lived alone in a waterfront apartment in Newport, Rhode Island, while composing. The basic tracks were recorded at The Barn in Massachusetts over ten days in January 2014 with Steve Gadd on drums and Jimmy Johnson on bass, and backing vocals were added at Ocean Way in Los Angeles in March 2014. Lines from Dad Loves His Work turn up in the title of the opening track.

It entered the Billboard 200 at number one with 97,000 units in the week ending 21 June 2015, his first number one album, 47 years after James Taylor, which left him the second-longest wait for a number one behind Tony Bennett. In the UK it reached number four. Rob Mounsey wrote the arrangements, Yo-Yo Ma plays cello, and Sting sings on one track. Taylor played Today Today Today, You and I Again and Stretch of the Highway on his 2014 tour before release.