WILCO Cousin
( dBpm Records )
The era of Wilco albums , beginning with 2016 ’ s Schmilco and continuing with 2019 ’ s Ode To Joy , found the iconic band somewhat pushed into a corner . Perhaps matching the political upheaval of that era , Jeff Tweedy and company sounded like one big frayed nerve at the risk of completely falling apart . Simultaneously dark and lightweight , a feeling of exhaustion permeated those sessions . Writing multiple books recording and releasing multiple Wilco and solo albums while touring relentlessly had left Tweedy in a bad place . Then , things got worse with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic , where a reset was almost mandatory . Hyped as a return to their alternative country roots , the previous album Cruel Country , presented a band climbing out of a rut , even if it didn ’ t quite share the high lonesome sound of their masterworks Being There and Summerteeth . The new album Cousin is a compact , visceral animal helped immensely with the addition of new producer Cate LeBon . Where Wilco has mostly been a self-contained unit for the past decade-plus , it ’ s refreshing to hear them try new things with a new collaborator in the studio . It ’ s by no means a walk in the park , beginning with what sounds like the ticking of a bomb on the epic opener “ Infinite Surprise ” while then careening directly into addressing the problem of school shootings on “ Ten Dead .” However , the sonic stew on Cousin gives the listener all these little details and bells and whistles that have been absent on recent Wilco records . While “ Levee ” attempts the swing of Fleetwood Mac ’ s “ Dreams ,” it does so with a dark undercurrent and world-weary vocal approach , making it undeniably Wilco . Cate LeBon shook up the previous instudio formula by pushing the guys to record bits separately and slowly building up the tracks instead of recording live in the studio . Where that could have had a stultifying effect , Cousin instead finds the band using the studio as its own instrument , something that pushed them to the next level with 2002 ’ s iconic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album . Throw in “ Evicted ,” the closest they have come to a radio hit in years , and Cousin finds Wilco embracing the darkness as they reach their 30th year of existence .
– Andy Derer
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