featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
June 11, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Jason Isbell is a tough review. It could be argued that, as
a solo artist and with his 400 Unit, Isbell has issued a longer streak of
excellent records that any other current artist (and not just in our kind of
music). We assume that Weathervanes will be another in that generous series.
And, spoiler: It is. But as a reviewer I feel an obligation to give the 13-cut
collection a deep listen, to try to tease out themes, to figure how it fits alongside
genre-definers like Southeastern and Reunions.
There is actually little new on Weathervanes. Whereas Isbell's past four projects were produced by Dave Cobb, this project is self-produced, with some help from Matt Pence. One could argue that Cobb is largely responsible for the sound of contemporary roots music. But the same might be said for Jason Isbell.
The 400 Unit (deBorja, Gamble, Hart, and Vaden) are reliably stellar, but it could be said that they showed more range on the Georgia Blue covers collection, where they were encouraged to push out into less familiar R&B, rock, and soul territory. While Isbell's wife, Amanda Shires, is credited as a guest on Weathervanes, her vocal and instrumental contributions shouldn't be overlooked.
While Weathervanes delivers nothing new, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit continue to create some of the best roots-oriented rock being heard today. And perhaps the fact that we've come to expect that makes these new songs easier to take for granted. We've come to expect socially-oriented themes from Isbell, songs about addiction and self-doubt, the myth of Southern nostalgia. But few if any of today's songwriters labor over every lyrical turn and nuance, paring back until all that remains is truth.
We've learned better than to expect uplift from Jason Isbell. His lyrical darkness and directness pervade Weathervanes from the opening line: Did you ever love a woman with a death wish? Chad Gamble's percussion ticks and slaps alongside a minor key electric guitar and Isbell's urgent delivery, until the tension is tempered by Shires' sympathetic strings: Who's left to pray to / What's the difference between a breakdown and a breakthrough. "Death Wish" is a spiral of a song, catching the listener in its drama and the repeated cry: I wanna hold her until it's over. And that's just the appetizer. The jangling guitar of "King of Oklahoma" supplies the soundtrack to the story of a working man whose family is swept up in the wake of opioid addiction. Isbell and his band reflect the turmoil with an electrical storm of sound and fury: She used to make me feel like the King of Oklahoma / But nothing makes me feel like much of nothing anymore.
Of course, the personal can always be political, and while most of Isbell's songs on Weathervanes are set in living rooms and on the unswept Main Streets of our nation, he is at his best when he couches these more topical reckonings between the folds of a personal story. You'll find a tragic tale about race relations in "Cast Iron Skillet", woven in and through a litany of unquestioned homespun advice. The acoustic track showcases deBorja's accordion and Shires' fiddle, a gently melodic approach that belies the story's moral weight: She found love and it was simple as a weathervane / But her own family tried to kill it. Isbell has commented that pieces of his own story are woven into each song, and that's nowhere more apparent than on "Save the World". One of several minor-key tracks on the collection, the song finds the narrator losing hope and fearing for his daughter upon hearing news of another school shooting: Can we keep her here at home instead / And can we teach her how to fight. Feeling himself slipping, he turns to his wife: Tell me you're in control. The arena-filling rocker features a soaring guitar solo and keyboard textures.
Weathervanes swings alternately between electric and acoustic numbers, between chaos and calm, even if nearly every cut orbits a nucleus of conflict. Those calmer tracks serve to remind listeners of Isbell's masterful sonic touch, such as on the lovely "Strawberry Woman" in all its lovestruck simplicity: There's a warm wind blowing through the laundromat / There's a young man crying in a cowboy hat. "If You Insist" is a bright-sounding call for meaningful connection, while "Middle of the Morning" is Isbell's account of pandemic claustrophobia with soulful veins of piano and guitar: I'm tired by the middle of the morning / I'm out of shit to say.
As a 400 Unit project, most songs on Weathervanes are more roots rock than country, stuff that will play well to stadium back rows. With its slashing guitars, "When We Were Close" portrays Isbell's survivor's guilt in light of Justin Townes Earle's passing, both artists sharing a common path of reckless habits prior to Isbell's sobriety: I was the worst of the two of us / Rex's Blues wasn't through with us. Weathervanes closes with an extended, fiery reflection on the concessions we make when faced with our guilt, despair, and anger.
Routes & Branches worships at the altar of novelty, and we take our holy communion in the sandbox of musical experimentation. But we also admire an artist like Jason Isbell whose trajectory finds him deepening in his artistry as opposed to expanding in new directions. Like a weathervane atop a farmhouse, Isbell's songs speak to the prevailing winds of our country, the issues and concerns that continue to buffet us. I was raised to be a strong and silent southern man, he sings on Weathervanes. Jason Isbell would also seem to be a man of strong conscience and integrity, perennially aware of his privilege and his responsibility. The songs of conflict and division on his new album are also songs of love, stories that speak to a concern about his family and our communities.
Because we're not licensed to psychoanalyze the artists we represent on R&B, in the end we can only speak to the music. Weathervanes adds another layer to the story of Jason Isbell and his 400 Unit, and will continue to move him out from under the americana umbrella into the stronger sun of the popular music industry. As he takes great pains to remain true to his songs, he is largely charting the course of americana, alt.country and roots music.
- Tommy Stinson, "Here We Go Again" Wronger (Cowboys in the Campfire, 23)
- Robert Lloyd & Janet Beveridge-Bean, "Heavy Reckonings" Black Cat Dark Horse (Tiny Global, 23)
- Low Cut Connie, "Sleaze Me On" Art Dealers (Contender, Sep 8)
- Shinyribs, "All the Best Things" Transit Damage (Blue Elan, Jul 14)
- Allison Russell, "The Returner" The Returner (Fantasy, Sep 8) D
- Miranda Lambert, "If You Were Mine (ft Leon Bridges)" single (Vanner, 23) D
- Jeremie Albino, "All These Days" Tears You Hide (Good People, 23)
- Laura Cantrell, "Bide My Time" Just Like a Rose: Anniversary Sessions (Propeller, 23)
- Israel Nash, "Ozarker" Ozarker (Desert Folklore, Oct 20) D
- Lori McKenna, "Town In Your Heart" 1988 (CN, Jul 21)
- Brent Cobb, "Southern Star" Southern Star (Ol' Buddy, Sep 22) D
- Megan and Shane, "Things Don't Have To Change (ft Lillie Mae, Brit Taylor)" single (M&S, Jul 14) D
- Caitlin Canty, "Salt Water" Quiet Flame (Canty, Jun 23)
- Mapache, "What a Summer" Swinging Stars (Innovative Leisure, Aug 18)
- Jason Eady, "Wayside" Mississippi (Old Guitar, Aug 11)
- Brennen Leigh, "I'm Still Looking For You" Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet (Signature Sounds, Jun 16)
^ Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, "When We Were Close" Weathervanes (Southeastern, 23)
- Jess Williamson, "God in Everything" Time Ain't Accidental (Mexican Summer, 23)
- DeYarmond Edison, "Feel the Light" Epoch (Jagjaguwar, Sep 22)
- Watson Twins, "Holler" Holler (Bloodshot, Jun 23)
- Jenny Lewis, "Love Feel" Joy'All (Blue Note, 23)
- Elizabeth Moen, "That Summer Feeling" single (Moen, 23) D
- Angie McMahon, "Saturn Returning" single (AWAL, 23) D
- Anna St Louis, "Soft Cities" In the Air (Woodsist, 23)
- RF Shannon, "Cedar Perfume" Red Swan in Palmetto (Keeled Scales, 23)
- Ratboys, "It's Alive!" The Window (Topshelf, Aug 25)
- Fust, "Trouble" Genevieve (Dear Life, Jun 16) D
- Kassi Valazza, "Long Way From Home (I'll Ride You Down)" Knows Nothing (Fluff & Gravy, 23)
- Edsel Axle, "Variable Happiness" Variable Happiness (Worried Songs, Aug 11) D
- Nicki Bluhm, "Beat Goes On" single (Bono Sonny, 23) D
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