David Crosby will release a new album, Free, July 23. The singer-songwriter previewed the project with the debut single “River Rise”, starring Michael McDonald.

The Doobie Brothers singer adds his distinctive vocals to the light folk-rock track, which gently transforms into a climactic guitar solo. McDonald harmonizes with Crosby on the chorus, singing, “Let the river rise, open the skies / I won’t take away.”

You can hear the song below.

Crosby’s son, James Raymond, a multi-instrumentalist who produced the record, co-wrote the song with Crosby and McDonald’s. In a statement, Raymond said that “River Rise” was born out of “the desire to write something very evocative of California, but almost with a country song perspective – something that speaks to the empowerment of every man or woman. wife.”

Free, which follows 2018 Here if you listen, features several of the musicians who have appeared on the previous year Sky Trails, including saxophonist Steve Tavaglione and drummer Steve DiStanislao. The new record is named after Crosby’s cover of the song Joni Mitchell, which appeared on his classic 1970 album, Ladies of the Canyon.

“Joni is the greatest singer-songwriter alive, and ‘For Free’ is one of the simplest,” Crosby said of the new release, which stars Sarah Jarosz. “This is one of my favorite songs because I love what it says about the spirit of the music and what makes you play.”

The album, with a cover portrait painted by his friend Joan Baez, also includes a song written by Donald Fagen, “Rodriguez for a Night”. Crosby called Steely Dan his “favorite band,” adding, “I’ve admired Donald for a long time so it was a thrill for us.”

“This is really good, man,” said Crosby. Rolling stone of this song last year. “I’m so honored that he gave us a series of words. I asked him for a few years. He started to trust us, I think. It took a while, but he gave us a series of words. that are really wonderful and we just wrote crap about them.