Jeff Tweedy has shared two new songs, “Guess Again” and “Love Is the King,” from his upcoming solo album, Love Is the King, out October 23rd via dBpm Records.
In a statement Tweedy said the album came about at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown when he began “writing country songs to console myself. Folk and country type forms being the shapes that come most easily to me in a comforting way.”
Both tunes decidedly fit that mold, with “Guess Again” offering a breezy shuffle and lonesome guitar twang as Tweedy sings, “Riding with the wind blowing in my hair/And the sun shining down everywhere/And if you think that’s the best thing/That I can do/Guess again my love.”
“Love Is the King,” meanwhile, begins as a stripped-bare and stoic folk tune — “But cry don’t you dare/When I die in the ring/Life isn’t fair/Love is the king” — until it opens up with an extended guitar solo that skitters and screams with a psychedelic edge.
Tweedy said of the two tracks and how they came about in relation to the pandemic and lockdown: “‘Guess Again’ is a good example of the success I was having at pushing the world away, counting my blessings — taking stock in my good fortune to have love in my life. A few weeks later things began to sound like ‘Love Is The King’ — a little more frayed around the edges with a lot more fear creeping in. Still hopeful but definitely discovering the limits of my own ability to self soothe.”
Tweedy recorded Love Is the King in April at the Loft in Chicago, working with his sons Spencer and Sammy. The album marks his fourth solo album in as many years, following 2017’s Together at Last, 2018’s Warm and 2019’s Warmer. Last year, Wilco also released their most recent album, Ode to Joy.
On Friday, September 18th, Tweedy and his band will play a drive-in show at the McHenry, Illinois outdoor theater. The show will also be live-streamed and available to watch on-demand until September 25th, with tickets available. He will also publish his new book, How to Write One Song, October 13th via Dutton.
From Rolling Stone US
