A recent addition to the Bella Union family, 2012 has seen Van Dyke Parks (definitely one of the coolest names in show business) make a very welcome, long overdue return, re-releasing his critically acclaimed first albums Song Cycle, Discover America and Clang of the Yankee Reaper earlier this summer.

He’s now unveiled this video, which offers a glimpse of the charismatic composer talking about Discover America as he gears up for a return to this side of the pond for a handful of festival dates. Discover America, along with his other earlier releases, opened the gates to a career which would see Van Dyke Parks work with the likes of the Beach Boys, Rufus Wainwright, Frank Zappa and Joanna Newsom as a lyricist, producer and session musician as well as releasing a healthy back catalogue of cult records.

See what Parks has to say about the album in the video above, and catch this legendary musician at the following dates.