ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
May 17, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

For a majority of music types both within and outside the americana community, Jason Isbell is americana music.  Since being booted from Drive-by Truckers for being too rowdy, Isbell (with and without his 400 Unit) has racked up number one albums, awards and accolades, and articles in publications that would not be able to pick Dave Alvin from a lineup.  More to the point, his last five studio projects, beginning with 2009's self-titled record, have earned spots #11, #3, #1, #3 and #5 on Routes & Branches' year-end favorites lists.

Even researching early reaction to Jason Isbell's new release with the 400 Unit, Reunions, we waded through countless pieces ranging from vanity blogs like ours to respected journalistic institutions like New York Times, most focused on the man more than on his music.  Reports are that Isbell shouldered quite a bit of pressure in the writing and recording of Reunions, in light of the fact that his three previous studio collections had been so well-received:  Southeastern (2013), Something More Than Free (2015) and The Nashville Sound (2017).  Partnering with honorary bandmate Dave Cobb, producer for every Isbell project since Southeastern, the cohort set about charting an appropriate next step.

The jacket of Reunions starkly depicts a lone figure (Isbell?) standing against the vast horizon, only grass below and overcast sky above.  A curious choice for a cover image, especially for a CD he's attributed to his longtime band - Derry de Borja (keys), Chad Gamble (drum), Jimbo Hart (bass), Sadler Vaden (guitar) and Amanda Shires (fiddle, vocals).  Consider also that one might expect more of a gathering with a title like Reunions.  But, as Isbell has pointed out, those titular reunions happen to be with ghosts from his past, even with the spirit of his younger self.

It's no secret that Isbell's successful Southeastern was largely built on issues of emerging from sobriety and testing the waters of personal stability.  Still, he hasn't released a song that addresses it as directly as "It Gets Easier".  The midtempo rocker is one of the collection's grittier tracks, also featuring Shires' fiddle and backing vocals.  It gets easier, but it never gets easy, Isbell sings.  One of our most skilled songwriters, he rarely pulls aside the curtain entirely, but rather includes biographical glimpses throughout his work.  Another straightahead rocker, "Be Afraid" eavesdrops as the artist searches his conscience for the strength to speak from the stage for what he believes.  The guitar-powered anthem makes as much noise as almost anything Isbell has set to record:  If your words add up to nothing, then you're making a choice / To sing a cover when you need a battle cry.

The evocative ballad "Dreamsicle" spotlights Isbell's sure-handed storytelling.  Set to a smooth 70s country-rock groove, the tune speaks to a young man's life as it is upended in the wake of a divorce.  The imagery is vivid and real:  Heat lightning in the evening sky / And my mama's red hair ...  The narrator of "River" hides a terrible secret like a snake in the reeds.  The seemingly familiar gospel-folk arrangement pairs tasteful keys and fiddle, even as we begin to feel the song's dark undercurrent: Take the body to the delta / Hide the weapon in the weeds.

Despite Isbell's apparent anxiety for a fitting follow-up to his successful streak of records, Reunions finds him simply doing more of what he's already proven to do so well.  Heartfelt cuts like "St Peter's Autograph" (acknowledging his spouse's grief at the passing of Neal Casal) share space with heartland rockers such as the fiery "Overseas".  Producer Dave Cobb and Isbell have taken extra care on the textures and musical settings for the sessions, resulting in a collection that doesn't necessarily sound like a departure even as it explores new dimensions of the songwriter's work.  Like Ryan Adams' later work, the economy and understatement inherent in Isbell's writing are balanced by a richer, more contemporary aesthetic. 

"What've I Done To Help" features David Crosby on backing vocals, along with a distant cloud of strings and a great lead vocal.  At 6 minutes 40 seconds, the track propels urgently forward on the merit of the 400 Unit's beautiful musical bed.  Like much of Reunions, the song explores themes of accountability, especially as Isbell finds himself in an increasingly privileged position:  The world's on fire and we just climb higher / Till we're no longer bothered by the smoke and sound / Good people suffer and the heart gets tougher / Nothing given, nothing found.  The ghosts that surround Jason Isbell are the spirits of past decisions and the hard won scars of lessons learned.  What emerged early in his career as self-criticism and anger have evolved into an awareness of consequence and a growing compassion for others.  Tell the truth, he sings.  You'll find it rhymes with everything.

In the midst of their musical ascendancy, Jason Isbell and his spouse and musical partner Amanda Shires are raising their little girl named Mercy.  She peers around corners and makes appearances on a couple cuts on her folks' new album.  Most notably, Isbell takes a flight of imagination on the heartbreaking "Letting You Go".  As the record comes to a close, he sings of buckling her into a car seat, standing over her as she learns to walk, and learning how to let go when it's the right thing to do.  The country ballad is a pure and selfless gesture, it betrays few of the singer's abiding ghosts:  To hear your first words and feel your first heartbreak / To sing you to sleep when you're scared of the dark / The best I can do is to let myself trust that you know / Who'll be strong enough to carry your heart. 

- Jerry Joseph, "Days of Heaven" Beautiful Madness  (Decor, Aug 21)  D
^ Jason Isbell, "Overseas" Reunions  (Southeastern, 20)
- Sylvia Rose Novak, "South of Boulder" Bad Luck  (Novak, 20)
- Will Stewart, "All Over Again" Way Gone EP  (Cornelius Chapel, 20)
- Malcolm Holcombe, "Cryin' Dime" Not Forgotten  (Holcombe, 06)
- Andrew Bryant, "Big Hawk" Sentimental Noises  (Magnolia State, 20)
- M Lockwood Porter, "What We've Lost" single  (Black Mesa, 20)  D
- Nicole Atkins, "Mind Eraser" Italian Ice  (Single Lock, May 29)
- Dr Dog, "Where'd All the Time Go" Shame Shame  (Anti, 10)
- Woods, "Can't Get Out" Strange to Explain  (Woodsist, May 22)  D
- Rose City Band, "Empty Bottles" Summerlong  (Thrill Jockey, 20)
- Tessy Lou Williams, "Mountain Time In Memphis" Tessy Lou Williams  (TLW, May 22)
- John Baumann, "Country Don't Sound the Same" Country Shade  (Next Waltz, Jun 5)
- Michael Kiwanuka, "One More Night" Love & Hate  (Polydor, 16)
- Shakey Graves, "Not Everything Grows" Look Alive EP  (Shakey Graves, 20)
- Jayhawks, "This Forgotten Town" Xoxo  (SHAM, Jul 10)  D
- Ben de la Cour, "God's Only Son" Shadow Land  (Flour Sack Cape, 20)  D
- Gretchen Peters, "Leavin' Kentucky" Night You Wrote That Song  (Scarlet Letter, 20)
- Dead Tongues, "Peaceful Ambassador" Transmigration Blues  (Psychic Hotline, Jun 26)  D
- Jess Williamson, "Love's Not Hard to Find" Sorceress  (Mexican Summer, 20)
- Moviola, "Scrape and Cuss" Scrape and Cuss  (No Heroics, 20)
- Neal Casal, "Today I'm Gonna Bleed" Sun Rises Here  (Casal, 98)
- Israel Nash, "Down In the Country" Topaz EP  (Desert Folklife, 20)
- Zach Aaron, "Fill Dirt Wanted" Fill Dirt Wanted  (Aaron, 20)
- Corb Lund, "Grizzly Bear Blues" Agricultural Tragic  (New West, Jun 25)
- Anna Tivel, "Minneapolis (acoustic)" The Question: Live and Alone  (Fluff & Gravy, May 29)
- Chuck Prophet, "Willie & Nilli" Land That Time Forgot  (Yep Roc, Aug 21)
- Laura Marling, "Only the Strong" Song For Our Daughter  (Partisan, 20)
- Joe Ely, "Glare of Glory" Love In the Midst of Mayhem  (Rack 'Em, 20)
- Sam Baker, "Ditch" Say Grace  (Baker, 13)

Visit our Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster regularly, to update your dancecard with all the information on forthcoming records.  This week, Ryan Gustafson announced his sophomore release under the Dead Tongues moniker.  The Hiss Golden Messenger bandmember has set June 26 as the street date for Transmigration Blues (Psychic Hotline).  The ever-worthy Alive Naturalsound label will be issuing the next collection from Dirty Streets on July 31.  The Memphis purveyors of dirty blues have appropriate entitled the CD Rough and Tumble.  One of the bright spots in more mainstream country music, Mo Pitney will share the follow-up to his strong debut on August 14.  Ain't Lookin' Back will be his second project for Curb Records.  In some of the week's most promising news, Patterson Hood will serve as the producer for veteran rocker Jerry Joseph's next album.  Beautiful Madness finds the longtime Portland fixture backed by Drive-by Truckers (Decor, Aug 21).  The next release from force-of-nature Low Cut Connie will be a double LP.  Private Lives will be Adam Weiner & co's sixth album, landing on shelves on October 13 via Contender Records.  You've earned your weekly ROUTES-cast, my friend:

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