NASHVILLE, Tn. (WVUE) - 2023 is shaping up to be the year of Jason Isbell.
The Southern rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, and occasional actor recently announced dates for a new album, “Weathervanes”, coming out on June 9, and a full U.S. tour that kicks off on April 28 in Cincinnati, Ohio with his band, The 400 Unit. He’s also the subject of an HBO Documentary that will premiere Friday (April 7) and has a major acting debut on Oct. 6 with a featured role in the Martin Scorsese directed “Killers of the Flower Moon”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Isbell, a former member of the band Drive-By Truckers, experienced breakout success with the album “Southeastern” in 2013. It featured a mix of personal and allegorical songs written on a path toward sobriety after alcoholism became a serious threat to his well-being. He’s released three albums since then, all produced by Nashville vet Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton; John Prine).
Weathervanes signal a change in the wind’s direction and the upcoming release appears it will do just that. For the first time since 2013, Isbell is enlisting himself as the record’s producer instead of Cobb.
Isbell’s lyrics strike a chord with the literary world, featuring prose themed in the Southern gothic genre. Now they will be set to a fuller and more rock-n-roll orchestral sound on Weathervanes. The album’s release has been teased with a trailer featuring author and ESPN producer Wright Thompson narrating the sneak peek in his trademark drawl, describing music made by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit as “Life and death songs...played for and by grown-ass people.”
Isbell’s previous album, Reunions, saw its release interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic at a time the future of live music was uncertain. The HBO doc dropping on Friday, “Running With Our Eyes Closed”, will show the behind scenes of that album’s production and the sheltering in place thereafter. The doc also shows the personal strain his marriage with singer-songwriter Amanda Shires went through during a time of uncertainty.
The first singles released from the album are dramatically different. “Death Wish” featured a melody worthy of a pop hit with the tense feel of impending chaos in the chord progression. There are some biting guitar riffs throughout it but it feels like demonstrative shredding could happen at any moment...yet it never totally does. This evokes the feel of stormwinds and the feeling of how the bottom could fall out of the sky at any moment.
“Middle of the Morning” is much more mellow and reflective of a youthful past, similar to the vibe brought forth on Reunions. There is great attention to detail on this track and Isbell shows how melodic he can be on lead guitar, similar to The Allmand Brothers or Derek Trucks.
When Killers of the Flower Moon comes out through Apple TV+ and Paramount Pictures this fall, Isbell will portray the white husband of a slain native Osage Nation woman from Oklahoma. The story is set in the 1920s and looks into the brutal killings of Osage natives who were killed after oil was discovered on their land. Alt-country star Sturgill Simpson also has a role in the film.
To view all of Isbell’s upcoming tour dates, click here.
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