Jeff Tweedy Will Fight Our Dark Times With a New Triple Album

Yahoo

2 days ago

If you're a fan of Jeff Tweedy, you know that he writes a lot of songs. Not just in the sense that he's spent more than 30 years leading Wilco through one of the most rewarding and varied catalogs in American music, although that's also true. On the most literal level, Tweedy generally writes at least one song every day. 'I sincerely feel a need to have that in my life,' he told Rolling Stone in 2020, the year that he published a great book about this daily practice. 'I feel better when I do it, and I try not to miss days. It's like working out or something, almost.'
All that songwriting has left Tweedy with enough strong material for a new triple album, Twilight Override, out Sept. 26 via Wilco's own dBpm Records. You read that right — three discs, 30 songs total. This is his first solo release since 2020's Love Is the King, which means this album represents something like the top 1.6 percent of all the songs he's written in the last five years. (Please don't check that math.) The crème de la crème, if you will.
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Along with today's announcement, Tweedy has released four excellent new songs to help you get a handle on all this music. 'One Tiny Flower,' the first song on disc one, is a meditative folk song with a nervous energy pushing it forward. 'Out in the Dark,' from disc two, is an easygoing amble in brighter hues, with some fun burbling studio noises as the song goes on. 'Stray Cats in Spain,' from disc three, is a plunge into headier waters, with swirling strings and no audible percussion — just beautiful stuff. And 'Enough,' which is both the final track on the album and its 'radio single,' is an upbeat, catchy burst of folk-rock sunshine, complete with a sweet electric guitar solo. Right away, just from these songs, it's clear that Twilight Override is some top-shelf Tweedy, and they make you want to hear more. You can tell that he is on fire right now, creatively speaking.
In a press statement, Tweedy explains that he sees creativity as a way of standing against all the darkness in the world today. 'Sort of an endless buffet these days — a bottomless basket of rock bottom,' he writes. 'Which is, I guess, why I've been making so much stuff lately.' It's hard to argue with that if you look at the news in this country and the rest of the world. He goes on to bring it back to his personal perspective: 'Whatever it is out there (or in there) squeezing this ennui into my day, it's fucking overwhelming. It's difficult to ignore. Twilight Override is my effort to overwhelm it right back.'
Tweedy recorded and produced Twilight Override at Wilco's Chicago studio, the Loft, with a band made up of some trusted collaborators: his sons Spencer (on drums) and Sammy (on synth and vocals), plus guitarist James Elkington, bass player Liam Kazar, and singers Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart (a.k.a. Chicago duo Finom). Some of the titles on the track list are familiar if you've attended any of Tweedy's solo shows in recent years or perused his Substack; others are surprises. One of them is called 'Lou Reed Was My Babysitter.'
He's also announced a slew of solo tour dates, most of them taking place in October and November. (Before that, Wilco will spend August playing a few nights on the Outlaw Tour with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, followed by a run of 'An Evening With Wilco' shows.) You can find all those solo tour dates, along with the full track list for Twilight Override, below. Buckle up — it's going to be a very Tweedy fall.
Track List
Disc 1
1. One Tiny Flower2. Caught Up in the Past3. Parking Lot4. Forever Never Ends5. Love Is for Love6. Mirror7. Secret Door8. Betrayed9. Sign of Life10. Throwaway Lines
Disc 2
1. KC Rain (No Wonder)2. Out in the Dark3. Better Song4. New Orleans5. Over My Head (Everything Goes)6. Western Clear Skies7. Blank Baby8. No One's Moving On9. Feel Free
Disc 3
1. Lou Reed Was My Babysitter2. Amar Bharati3. Wedding Cake4. Stray Cats in Spain5. Ain't It a Shame6. Twilight Override7. Too Real8. This Is How It Ends9. Saddest Eyes10. Cry Baby Cry11. Enough
Jeff Tweedy Tour Dates
July 24 — Deerfield, MA @ Treehouse BrewingJuly 27 — Newport, RI @ Newport Music FestivalSept. 5 — Iowa City, IA @ Iowa City Songwriters FestivalSept. 6 — Urbana, IL @ Ellnora Guitar Festival – Krannert Center for the Performing Arts of IllinoisOct. 8 — Three Oaks, MI @ Acorn Theater *Oct. 10 — Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall #Oct. 11 — Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield !Oct. 13 — Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *Oct. 14 — Lebanon, NH @ Lebanon Opera House #Oct. 16 — Portland, ME @ State Theatre !Oct. 17 — Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall *Oct. 18 — Boston, MA @ Royale #Oct. 20 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *Oct. 22 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel !Oct. 24 — Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue Theatre #Oct. 25 — Richmond, VA @ Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden !Oct. 26 — Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre *Oct. 27 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #Oct. 29 — Grundy County, TN @ The Caverns !Oct. 30 — Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall *Nov. 1 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Indoors) #Nov. 5 — Milwaukee WI @ Pabst Theater !Nov. 6 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *Nov. 8 — Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall #Nov. 9 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom !Nov. 11 — Dallas, TX @ Longhorn *Nov. 12 — Austin, TX @ Paramount Theatre #Nov. 14 — Houston, TX @ The Heights !Nov. 15 — New Orleans, LA @ Chickie Wah Wah *Nov. 16 — New Orleans, LA @ Chickie Wah Wah #Nov. 18 — Hattiesburg, MS @ Hattiesburg Saenger TheaterNov. 20 — Peoria, IL @ Temple/Live Scottish Rite Theatre *Nov. 21 — Madison, WI @ Shannon Hall #Feb. 11 — Madrid, ES @ Teatro EslavaFeb. 12 — Barcelona, ES @ Paral·lel 62Feb. 14 — Paris, FR @ AlhambraFeb. 15 — Geneva, CH @ Antigel FestivalFeb. 17 — Antwerp, BE @ De RomaFeb. 18 — Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburgFeb. 20 — London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall
* with Sima Cunningham# with Macie Stewart! with Liam Kazar
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