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Cruel Country
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Cruel Country
Current price: $41.99
Barnes and Noble
Cruel Country
Current price: $41.99
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When
Wilco
announced the upcoming release of their album
Cruel Country
in late April 2022, it immediately generated a lot of excitement from a part of their fan base that hadn't been heard from much in a while. In the initial press releases on the LP,
Jeff Tweedy
described it as a country album, exciting news for the folks who had been following the band since their earliest days as
Tweedy
's post-
Uncle Tupelo
project, and had felt disappointed since their audible twang essentially disappeared with 1999's
Summerteeth
. But anyone hoping
was going to take
back to the rollicking alt-country sound of 1995's
A.M.
or 1996's
Being There
needs to adjust their expectations. Though
is indeed the most "country" album
have delivered in over 20 years, it's not "country" in the way they sounded in the mid-'90s. Instead, this is mostly acoustic country-inspired music merged with folk and filtered through the sort of musical and lyrical impressionism that became
's worldview since he developed a voice fully separate from the other guy who co-founded
. (In its emphasis on ambience and occasional washes of electronic soundscapes, this is as much
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
as
.)
marks the first time in several years circumstances permitted
to record together live in the same room, and the performances have the subtle but very human feel of six people sitting in a circle and reacting in the moment to one another's ideas and energy. Some think of
and whoever else he brings along (and his status as uncontested leader is well established), but the best moments on
show how much more they truly are. On longer cuts like "Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull" and "Many Words," hearing the musicians stretch out and weave their performances around one another is quietly dazzling, especially
Nels Cline
's steel guitar and
Pat Sansone
and
Mikael Jorgensen
's keyboards. There's very little flash in this music, but there's a warmth and excitement in the process of creation that's deeply satisfying, even joyous. Lyrically,
is very much an album about America, written with an eye toward the nation's collective history as well as the division of the 2020s, and when
sings, "I love my country/Stupid and cruel," he makes it clear that as much as the second part troubles him, the first part isn't irony. While 2015's
Star Wars
, 2016's
Schmilco
, and 2019's
Ode to Joy
were all fine in their own ways, they often had the feel of a band throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and seeing what would stick (and this is a band good enough to get away with that).
, however, feels as unified and well plotted as anything in
's catalog, and it's deeply moving, powerfully heartfelt music from a handful of gifted players serving their songs beautifully. ~ Mark Deming
Wilco
announced the upcoming release of their album
Cruel Country
in late April 2022, it immediately generated a lot of excitement from a part of their fan base that hadn't been heard from much in a while. In the initial press releases on the LP,
Jeff Tweedy
described it as a country album, exciting news for the folks who had been following the band since their earliest days as
Tweedy
's post-
Uncle Tupelo
project, and had felt disappointed since their audible twang essentially disappeared with 1999's
Summerteeth
. But anyone hoping
was going to take
back to the rollicking alt-country sound of 1995's
A.M.
or 1996's
Being There
needs to adjust their expectations. Though
is indeed the most "country" album
have delivered in over 20 years, it's not "country" in the way they sounded in the mid-'90s. Instead, this is mostly acoustic country-inspired music merged with folk and filtered through the sort of musical and lyrical impressionism that became
's worldview since he developed a voice fully separate from the other guy who co-founded
. (In its emphasis on ambience and occasional washes of electronic soundscapes, this is as much
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
as
.)
marks the first time in several years circumstances permitted
to record together live in the same room, and the performances have the subtle but very human feel of six people sitting in a circle and reacting in the moment to one another's ideas and energy. Some think of
and whoever else he brings along (and his status as uncontested leader is well established), but the best moments on
show how much more they truly are. On longer cuts like "Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull" and "Many Words," hearing the musicians stretch out and weave their performances around one another is quietly dazzling, especially
Nels Cline
's steel guitar and
Pat Sansone
and
Mikael Jorgensen
's keyboards. There's very little flash in this music, but there's a warmth and excitement in the process of creation that's deeply satisfying, even joyous. Lyrically,
is very much an album about America, written with an eye toward the nation's collective history as well as the division of the 2020s, and when
sings, "I love my country/Stupid and cruel," he makes it clear that as much as the second part troubles him, the first part isn't irony. While 2015's
Star Wars
, 2016's
Schmilco
, and 2019's
Ode to Joy
were all fine in their own ways, they often had the feel of a band throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and seeing what would stick (and this is a band good enough to get away with that).
, however, feels as unified and well plotted as anything in
's catalog, and it's deeply moving, powerfully heartfelt music from a handful of gifted players serving their songs beautifully. ~ Mark Deming
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