Sad never sounded so good

Jeff Tweedy is one of the greatest songwriters alive, and Wilco’s newest (and self-titled) album is a strong testament to that.

“Bull Black Nova” delivers one of the best examples of musicianship and original work on the album. The lyrics and music paint a disturbing picture of paranoia. The guitars build monotonously like a scene from a horror film, and a wall of sound blankets the end of the track, putting a harsh and quick close on this tale.

Feist makes an appearance on the album in the song “You and I.” The voices of Tweedy and Feist just never seem to mesh very well at any point during the song. The song never seems to unify, and the lyrics are unoriginal. This song has potential but is somewhat of a letdown.

“Country Disappeared” sounds similar to a lot of the tracks from their previous release, “Sky Blue Sky.” Tweedy’s gentle lines issue from the speakers as his lyrics coddle and warn of a dangerous and unfamiliar world.

Along the same lines, “Solitaire” is a melancholic song about topics familiar to all, though contrived, about the difficulty of life and love and being singled out. Even though these are things I’ve heard in so many other songs, Tweedy could write about a cat using the litter box and make it sound like that cat was a heaven-sent angel on Earth showing humans the humor of life.

Even death sounds romantic on this album. In “I’ll Fight,” Tweedy spins a magical song about life moving forward after death in lyrics such as this: “You’ll wake with a start from a dream / And know that I am gone / You’ll feel it in your heart but not for very long.” And for even more heartrending lyrics, listen to “Everything Everlasting.”
But this album isn’t just all boohoos and baritone bellows; it’s a serious album by a creative group led by a talented musician who just gets better with the years.

On this album, Wilco still sounds like Wilco, yes, but they’ve added more inspired work to their repertoire that shouldn’t turn anyone off, which is more than could be said for many groups these days.