Jason Isbell starts us off with the very folky and light “Last of My Kind”. There are some nice strings in the background, and as far as Jason sounds, he comes off fantastically. His vocals are right where I like to hear them, and lyrically very quickly Jason is showing that he brought his A game. I do like this track as far as lyrics and vocals go, and I feel like this would have been a better track if it was placed later up in the set list. To me, “Last of My Kind” really doesn’t sit as an intro, and it’s a real shame because Jason’s nostalgic bars about growing up are fantastic. But I don’t know, I would have like something with a little more oomph to start this album off, not necessarily heavy, but maybe a little something more than I could sink my teeth into. Lyrically and vocally though, Jason couldn’t have started us off more wonderfully. And while year it’s not that exciting instrumentally, there are a ton of qualities here that I do love, like the very Southern sounding slide guitar as well as those sweet strings. Jason & the 400 Unit however wake us up really quickly with “Cumberland Gap”. This is upbeat and raucous enough to have been a Drive By Truckers B-Side to be honest. I love when Jason goes for these seriously gritty Southern Rock jams. His vocals here are the coolest I’ve heard from him in ages. And I love how once again, we’re dealing with a ton of Nostalgia from Jason, something he’s tackles for years, but it’s something I always love to hear from him. Jason dives into where he grew up, and how times have changed there drastically, and how he wants to move away but he’s all his mother has left. Ever since Jason’s early days with Drive By Truckers, he’s always very generously let us into his life, and here is certainly no different. It’s a real rocker of a track with a big sing along chorus, it’s a damn doozy of a song. While I don't think this is something I want to hear on every track from Jason, it mixes things up really nicely. Not to mention, it gives The 400 Unit a real couple of minutes to shine. “Tupelo” up next brings out the seriously alternative Country sound that I’ve been expecting to hear this entire album. It’s breezy, and my GOD Jason’s vocals here are some of my favorite of his that I’ve heard in ages. You don’t hear Jason belt out power verses too often, but when he does, the result is seriously stunning. The strings add a nice dimension to this, and while this sort of has a bunch of Country and Alt-Country cliche’s, Jason’s presentation is just that good that I’ll allow it. Jason’s the kind of guy who’s certainly pissed with the world and what’s going on around him, but the way he collects his thoughts and brings them to light in his own way is what really sets him aside. Also, there’s just so much appreciation of old school, REAL country on “Tupelo”, what a damn tune. Then we have the track that everyone was talking about leading up to this, “White Man’s World”. Like I was saying just now about Jason, he collects his thoughts so well and brings in a lot of real world topics that need to be chatted about. But he certainly brings them up in his own way. I also really love some of the attitude on this one, as he talks about taking cocaine and burning the world down, also how he believes God much have taken a vacation. But this is what I mean though about Jason Isbell. Anyone could have blurted out an angry political rocker. But Jason’s wonderful way with words makes this one really stick out. That violin breakdown is even strong for the serious Country fans out there, but it also brings in a serious sense of sorrow that I feel is really necessary. And of course, Jason ends “White Man’s World” with a statement that we can all easily comprehend. That statement, is that he’s not sure how he still has faith in the world, but realizes it’s because of his daughter and her future. This track is stunning.
Up next is “If We Were Vampires”, armed with an acoustic intro, but Jason’s one artist I’ll always be happy to hear that from. On this track, Jason’s performance has become so incredibly real, and that’s what I’ve always loved about him. Jason’s the furthest thing from some flashy country star, that’s for sure. This is the closest thing we get to a serious ballad here, but it’s filled with timeless lines and genuinely sweet sentiments. But of course, “If We Were Vampires” is Jason Isbell’s own sort of love song, meaning it’s got an absolutely somber tone to it It’s one of the shortest tracks here, but man is it ever memorable. Now, as far as a much bigger and grander track goes, look no further than “Anxiety”. The instrumentals are huge and epic in every way, and since they’re on the slower side they’re even more powerful. There are some slick guitar lines and some big sounding stings, it’s actually some seriously heavy stuff. On “Anxiety”, Jason is basically having a 7 minute conversation with his anxiety, which is an interesting song topic and it’s certainly executed well. He brings up a whole mess of very real problems he and other have to deal with, and yea it’s some heavy stuff. But I sort of feel like not everything clicks here. There are tons of great elements to “Anxiety”, but none of the come together at all. The instrumentals on the verses nearly aren’t as perfect as they are on the hook or the chorus. Jason’s performance, while it is still commendable, seems almost completely disconnected from the 400 Unit on this one. However, I don’t want to bash this one too bad. Because there are TONS of memorable lines, and Jason’s performance here truly is gigantic. “Molotov” at first I wasn’t really into, but it’s certainly grown on me. This one has almost a weird campiness to it, with some seriously weird undertones. But, Jason recovers quickly with some seriously creative and witty one liners. Some of those one liners however, take his already so descriptive lyrics and turn them into stunning portraits. On “Molotov”, Jason paints a picture of himself meeting a significant other at a County Fair when he was younger, and goes into such wonderful detail that I feel Like I’m there. It’s much more of a standard love song from Jason, and it’s one that I’m glad he’s shared with us. It’s also one of his more straightforward tracks, which is certainly nice to hear. But then we have “Chaos and Clothes”, which I have a few serious issues with. First off, it’s a little too folky for my liking. I feel like the Southern influence has almost flown out the window altogether on this one. But I can actually get past that. Let’s talk about these vocals. I feel like on “Chaos and Clothes”, Jason is doing his best Isaac Brock impression, even in his lyrics. It doesn’t come off well at ALL sadly. Like, I heard better Modest Mouse covers on that Sun Kil Moon Modest Mouse cover album, and THAT was utter trash. And you know what that means, “Chaos and Clothes” is utter trash as well, sorry Jason. The usual sort of grit that follows Jason as well is completely gone, so overall I’m really not feeling this one at all. Plus, lyrically, I haven’t cringed this hard in a LONG time.
Thankfully, “Hope The High Road” is up next, and oh man did I never need this track right about now. That old school Drive By Truckers grit is back, but it also has the softer side of Jason’s solo work not too far away. Jason continues to break out his more thought provoking and introspective lyrics that I can’t get enough of. But it’s Jason’s performance on this one that really drives it home. The power and passion in his voice is just so brilliant. Everything about this one just clicks, from the slight attitude of the performance, to the sweet sentiments coming out in the chorus. “Hope The High Road” is just what I needed to hear before this album finished. It’s a little cheesy in parts, but that’s just fine by me. Jason goes all out on this albums finale, “Something to Love”. To be honest, some of these harmonies here are to die for to be honest. For the most part, this track is here to sum up everything that’s been said on the album. Which usually I wouldn’t be too happy about, but I feel like Jason sums things up nicely and ends up leaving things off on a high note. It’s sweet, it’s beautiful, and it just makes me feel great.
Rating: 8.2/10
Give A Listen To: "Cumberland Gap", "Tupelo", "White Man's World", "Hope For The High Road"
Overall Thoughts: I'm just going to come out there and say it, I honestly feel like this is Jason Isbell's strongest solo release to date. This album has some of his most powerful performances as well as truly thought provoking lyrics. I don't think Jason's really reinvented himself or anything, and certainly hasn't done anything new and wild to the genre. But he's honed his craft so much, and listening to his wonderfully nostalgic lyrics makes me feel like I'm catching up with an old friend. Well done.
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