A 13th LP by Jeff Tweedy and co of the veteran Chicago band, this time with the innovative Welsh artist Cate Le Bon as producer, bringing a more experimental sound than last year’s alt-country double LP Cruel Country, and something more reminiscent of 2001’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Lyrically, there’s an arching theme of wistful melancholy “It never hurts to cry / The dead awake in waves” (Cousin)'; “You’re not the kind of city street /Anyone can cross /You’re the kind of spinning star /That only gets you lost” (Sunlight Ends). The title track is an obvious standout with clock-ticking drums, offbeat syncopations, woozy guitars Tweedy’s ghostly, twisting vocal delivery, but something different is evident from the opener, Infinite Surprise. Ten Dead has particularly Le Bon feel to it, as does the minimalistic beat and tinkling keyboards of Sunlight Ends, and A Bowl and A Pudding is a gentle ripple of guitar and has an echo of Radiohead. The slower number, Pittsburgh, swirls with a range of sounds, moving between the gentle and stormy, intricate guitars and oddball clanking noises. Evicted, also a beautiful number, meanwhile has a more conventional alt country sound. The strong losing track Meant To Be has an upbeat, rolling momentum of optimism and joy (“Our love is meant to be”). Strong and inspirational, strangely bittersweet and beautiful. Out on dBpm Records.
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