BONUS TRACKS: A First Look (and Listen) to the New Bob Dylan Movie

There’s been buzz and photos from the set and lots of speculation about the new Bob Dylan biopic for months, but the first trailer landed this week, giving us an early look at Timothée Chalamet’s walk in the folksinger’s shoes. And, what’s more, an early listen to how Chalamet sounds singing Dylan’s songs (yes, that’s actually him singing them). A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold (who also helmed the 2005 Johnny Cash movie Walk the Line), tells Dylan’s life story from his arrival in New York in 1961 to just after his plugged-in performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. There’s no release date for the movie yet, but Mangold hinted to Rolling Stone in this first interview about the project that it could come out in December. In addition to Chalamet’s casting as Dylan, the film features Edward Norton as Pete Seeger and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez. Read more about Mangold’s approach to Dylan’s complicated life and character in the interview, and watch the new trailer below:

Have you ever read one of 33 1/3’s books? Billed as “short books about albums,” each numbered volume is by a different author and examines a musical work in a delightful amount of depth. There’s a lot of breadth across its catalog too. My own small collection includes books on John Prine, Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love (I know, but it’s super interesting, I promise!), and Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. soundtrack. The 33 1/3 imprint, part of the publisher Bloomsbury, issues a call for proposals each year, and in summer it announces the books it has commissioned. There’s plenty for roots music fans to love in the newest batch, including books about Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads by Allison C. Meier and Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell by Joel Mayward. Find the full list, which also includes books about albums by The B-52’s, Weird Al, Whitney Houston, and The Cure, here. The newly announced books are slated to be published in 2026.

And now it’s my sad duty to catch you up on the long list of musicians who passed away in the last week or so.

John Mayall, the godfather of British blues, at 90. Story
Toumani Diabaté, Malian kora master and collaborator with Ali Farka Touré, Taj Mahal, and many others, at 58. Story
Duke Fakir, the last original member of The Four Tops, at 88. Story
Jerry Miller, Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist, at 81. Story

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Amythyst Kiah feat. S.G. Goodman – “Play God and Destroy the World,” from her new album, Still + Bright, coming in October
Bobby Rush, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dom Flemons, and Dustbowl Revival – “99½ Won’t Do”
Palmyra – “Pumped Up Kicks” (Foster the People cover) Salt Lick Session
Norman Blake feat. Jamie Hartford – “Howard Hughes Blues,” from Pilgrimage to Rising Fawn, coming in August
SUSS – Birds & Beasts
Rhodri Davies – Telyn Wrachïod
Garrison Starr and Jay Nash – Live at Sun Studio
Buffalo Burrows – “Die This Way”
The Great Divide – Break in the Storm
Rosali – “Rewind”
Twisted Pine – “Goosebump Feeling,” from their new album, Love Your Mind, coming in October