Album of the Week

See Wilco live these days and you’ll hear dependable hits recorded earlier this century on A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky. In recent years, despite leading the most consummate incarnation of his band, Jeff Tweedy has turned evermore inward in his songwriting. As he’s perfected his simplistic wordsmithing, his grip on melody has loosened; more songs have been forgettable. The band’s last album, 2022′s Cruel Country, was not the turn towards the band’s post-Uncle Tupelo beginnings that some fans yearned for, but another batch of turbid Tweedy ruminations. To be fair, few artists have been as fearless in exposing their inner monologues. The opening track “Infinite Surprise” refers to adaptation as life’s necessary skill: “If you were only you/ If I were only me/ If you were only you/ What would I be.” In “Levee” Tweedy is unnerved by confusion, “I love to take my meds/ Like my doctor said/ But I worry/ If I shouldn’t instead.” But in the magisterial horn-like synths of “Infinite Surprise,” it’s also clear that this sharp-eyed collection, which the band has worked on since 2019, has re-focused Tweedy’s considerable creativity on accessible chords supported by quiet, thoughtful vocal takes. With “Levee” and “Evicted” as the most obvious examples, likable melodic turns and fleshy choruses have returned.

To jog wrinkles, Cate Le Bon was brought on as producer. She’s called the band “mercurial,” while Tweedy offers, “Cate is very suspicious of sentiment, but she’s not suspicious of human connection.” While both are true, and Le Bon’s contributions on synthesizer, bass, piano and backing vocals add density to a track like “Pittsburgh,” this is a creative force beyond any producer’s magic touch. Recorded in the band’s fabled Loft recording hall, tunes like “A Bowl and a Pudding,” paced by undulating acoustic guitars, have a rich resonant sound. Now in his mid-50s, Tweedy surveys his career. “I’m a flag where the wind won’t blow,” he lets on in “Pittsburgh.” “Strange as that seems/ I’ve outlived my dreams.”

Rhythms bob in the brilliant, George Harrison-like “Soldier Child” where he sings, “I fought like a child/ Soldier/ Fights to forget what it’s like/ To be home.” And in the galloping final track, “Meant To Be,” hope breaks through torment and Wilco finds that love is once again the answer.