Drive By Truckers fans - does anyone know when in the goddam hell Jason Isbell's solo album is coming out??

His stuff with the Drive-By Truckers alone showed what a strong songwriting talent he is, but I'd never really gotten much from his albums. That could be as much or more my problem than his, but all the same I find his new one really hitting the spot. Excellent lyrics, and somewhere in there I'm getting some ... Gaslight Anthem vibes?

I could only make it through about half of it today. Somehow too earnest and righteous and sentimental or something.

I'm a fan, but this one's leaving me cold (so far).

as usual he remains okay and a spotty NPR liberal hero

Huh. Pretty harsh!

Not wowed on first listen here. My wife is a fan, and she wasn’t wowed either

I thought it was very good, myself.

NY Times interview focuses mainly on his sobriety issues and his marriage ones , but also has music aspects:

Sonically, Isbell wanted “Reunions” to be “more produced,” than its predecessors, with a sound reminiscent of bands he heard on ’80s rock radio growing up like Dire Straits, Crowded House and Squeeze. Cobb, who has produced Isbell’s last four albums, said the goal was for “it to sound bigger and slightly more polished. We used a lot of modern techniques that we’ve never touched before — crazy panning and stereo depth stuff.” Ultimately though, the changes are less a wholesale makeover than just some significant tweaks. As Cobb put it, “It’s Jason.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/arts/music/jason-isbell-reunions.html

The sturdiest track is the one about his addictions, and like many of the sound, solid tracks I was distracted with thinking about DBT energizing them.

It's definitely put through the palatable to NPR sonic filter (see also: Kacey Musgraves and the like) I'll give you that.

Music nerd trivia (spinning off from the Stevie Wonder thread): Isbell boasted on twitter (which he is pretty good at!) that the entire album was recorded without using a capo. Can't speak to alternate tunings, though.

NY Times interview focuses mainly on his sobriety issues and his marriage ones , but also has music aspects:

_Sonically, Isbell wanted “Reunions” to be “more produced,” than its predecessors, with a sound reminiscent of bands he heard on ’80s rock radio growing up like Dire Straits, Crowded House and Squeeze. Cobb, who has produced Isbell’s last four albums, said the goal was for “it to sound bigger and slightly more polished. We used a lot of modern techniques that we’ve never touched before — crazy panning and stereo depth stuff.” Ultimately though, the changes are less a wholesale makeover than just some significant tweaks. As Cobb put it, “It’s Jason.”_

Just the 400 Unit, in a room...

...sounds like he’ll be heading “back to basics” on the next one lol
Just the 400 Unit, in a room...

Would be a breach of etiquette for him to skip the obligatory divorce album which by rights should precede both the back to basics album and the inevitable covers album

god this guy is insufferable

yes you are

The time I listened to it neither the production nor the sound or songs in general were anything like those aforementioned references .

yeah I mean "what?" I wish it sounded like Crowed House's debut!

it would probably sound like (from memory) the Mitchell Froom produced Peter Case album or the like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgkeaVBf-WY

was he looking for gated snare or something? idgi

In that interview I think he specifically cited the Froom/Blake extreme panning, so ... who knows.

Weird being known for “extreme panning” - that’s like one of the very first things anyone who has ever recorded anything plays around with