Three weeks after John Mellencamp released the first single from his upcoming album, the singer-songwriter has just unveiled another track. The song, 'Sometimes There's God,' premiered at Parade.

 

Like 'Troubled Man,' the new cut is a roots-pulling number that reaches back to Mellencamp's most fertile period in the mid-'80s, when he was making classic records like 'Scarecrow' and 'The Lonesome Jubilee.' You can listen to 'Sometimes There's God' above.

And like 'Troubled Man,' 'Sometimes There's God' finds Mellencamp in rumination mode, wrestling some Big Issue questions over an atmospheric soundscape influenced by producer T Bone Burnett, who was originally slated to work on the album. Mellencamp's raspy, world-weary voice adds weight to it all.

Mellencamp's 22nd album, 'Plain Spoken,' will be released on Sept. 23. Produced by the artist at his studio in Indiana, the album marks the 62-year-old rocker's first album of original material in four years.

Next up for Mellencamp is his annual performance at Farm Aid. This year's lineup, which also includes Jack White and Neil Young, takes place on Sept. 13 in Raleigh, N.C. After that, he'll get set to kick off an 80-date North American tour in January, starting in his hometown of Bloomington, Ind.

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