When the band Uncle Tupelo broke up 20 years ago, Jeff Tweedy went on to form Wilco. Over the years since he has introduced us to heartbreakingly beautiful songs that are rich with aching sorrow or pure unbridled joy. Since the early Americana of A.M. and Being There, Wilco have gone on to forge new heights in experimentation in song craft. Whether or not the shift in style kept you on the ride, the undisputed fact is that Tweedy has become one of the most daring and accomplished songwriters of our generation. Now he joins forces with his son (and drummer), Spencer, and a slew of musicians, plus other members of Wilco, to bring us Sukierae.

On first listen, these 20 songs sound and read like a Tweedy solo project but then you get involved, and invested, and hear the beautiful interplay between instruments and voice. The album starts with the sonically textured ‘Please Don’t Let Me Be So Understood’ and moves into the mellow but rich ‘High as Hello’. Okay, so these tracks aren’t so removed from the Wilco of today. But from here, the acoustic guitar and voice take front and centre position, and we are thrown back to material more circa Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Tracks like ‘Kamera’ and ‘War on War’ come to mind, and are no more apparent than when hearing the first single (and beautifully animated film clip) ‘Summer Noon’. When Tweedy says that this is a solo album performed by a duo, I say we’ll take it any way we can. It really is a beautiful listen.

Lou Fulco