We could all use a little more joy in our lives. And Wilco are happy to oblige. Jeff Tweedy and his bandmates have announced their next album Ode to Joy is coming out Oct. 4 — and they’ve also shared the first single Love is Everywhere (Beware). Check it out below.
Of course, the Chicago alt-roots vets are far from the only artists with new releases on tap. Get up to speed with the rest of this morning’s announcements — including new offerings from Joan Shelley, Hammered Hulls, Lindsay Schoolcraft and more — at the bottom of this post. And of course, head over to the Upcoming Releases page for the ever-expanding gargantuan list of fall titles. Meanwhile, here’s the official word on Wilco’s Ode to Joy, straight fro the press release:
“Ode to Joy comes three-plus years after … Schmilco, and encourages the act of finding joy in a dark political climate. The album presents a unique rhythm track and a minimalist instrumentation, with lyrics at once observant, hopeful, morbid, tolerant, and abstract. Love is Everywhere (Beware), the album’s extrospective lead single, is an upbeat, guitar-driven track that explores the dual joy and threat of a community focused on love. Jeff Tweedy discusses it:
“There MUST be more love than hate. Right?! I’m not always positive we can be so sure. In any case, I’m starting to feel like being confident in that equation isn’t always the best motivation for me to be my best self – it can kind of let me off the hook a little bit when I think I should be striving to contribute more love outside of my comfortable sphere of family and friends. So… I guess the song is sort of a warning to myself that YES, Love IS EVERYWHERE, but also BEWARE! I can’t let that feeling absolve me of my duty to create more.”
“Following his two solo albums, WARM and WARMER, and memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), Tweedy gathered Wilco to The Loft in Chicago. While all six members of the band can be heard on every song, Tweedy and Glenn Kotche were the launching pad from which most of the songs on Ode to Joy materialized — Kotche’s percussion propels the music forward while Tweedy’s measured words flesh out the cleared paths. As a result, the album is comprised of “really big, big folk songs, these monolithic, brutal structures that these delicate feelings are hung on,” as described by Tweedy. Across the entire album, drums pound and plod with a steady one–two pulse, meant to mimic the movement of marching — a powerful act utilized on both sides of the authoritarian wall. There’s also a sense of comfort that comes with the rhythmic marching sound. Whether our joy is measured by sparks felt when clutching old sweaters to our chests, by the number of tiny digital hearts earned from a shared photograph, by a guitar solo or a drumbeat or a piece of cotton on a stick in your ear, or by something even greater, Wilco wants to sincerely remind us to wear that feeling loud and proud. This is Ode to Joy: pick it up, hold it tight.
Ode to Joy Tracklist:
1. Bright Leaves
2. Before Us
3. One and a Half Stars
4. Quiet Amplifier
5. Everyone Hides
6. White Wooden Cross
7. Citizens
8. We Were Lucky
9. Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
10. Hold Me Anyway
11. An Empty Corner
Other Upcoming Releases
August 9
Hammered Hulls | Hammered Hulls EP
August 23
Various Artists | The Harder They Come Collectors Edition Blu-Ray/DVD
August 30
Joan Shelley | Like the River Loves the Sea
September 6
The Magic E’s | Dead Star
Squid | Town Centre EP
September 13
Grande Royale | Take It Easy
Visceral Disgorge | Slithering Evisceration
September 20
The Number Twelve Looks Like You | Wild Gods
One True Pairing | One True Pairing
September 27
Firebreather | Under a Blood Moon
Pyramido | Fem
October 4
Insomnium | Heart Like a Grave
Wilco | Ode to Joy
October 11
Lindsay Schoolcraft | Martyr
November 29
Cattle Decapitation | Death Atlas
