- WARM, is the first solo album of original songs by Indie-rock icon and Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy. The album coincides with the release of Tweedy’s autobiography, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), and despite being over thirty years into his career, both are unfamiliar territory for the legendary songwriter. At fifty-one, Tweedy is simultaneously too old to be releasing his first solo album, and too young to be releasing a memoir — but Tweedy has never been one to adhere to conventions. Through his long career, Tweedy has amassed critical acclaim, a fanatical fanbase and a bevy of brilliant and diverse albumsm, despite never having a hit single or mainstream success. So, how did he manage this? The answer is dull — Tweedy and Wilco have simply made album after album of great music, with WARM being a worthy addition to the discography.
More stripped back than a Wilco album, the epicentre of WARM is Tweedy’s trademark acoustic guitar. Yet the album is not without audio eccentricities: Tweedy’s idiosyncratic method of playing guitar pervades the record and although he has never come close to being virtuosic, his playing is brilliant in a cumbersome way that resembles no other guitarist. One example, is the twangy electric guitar on final track, “How Will I Find You?” which sounds like a lost Neil Young and Crazy Horse number.
Be that as it may, WARM isn’t bereft of Tweedy’s power-pop styled songs which exhibit his obvious penchant for catchy melodies and simple chord progressions. These abilities are on full display on effervescent tracks, Let’s Go Rain and I Know What It’s Like. Third track, Don’t Forget, follows this path to a bittersweet end via moribund lyrics that betray its jovial melody. This dichotomy is also summed up perfectly on the lyrics of opener, Bombs Above, as Tweedy sings, “I leave behind a trail of songs / From the darkest gloom to the brightest sun”.
Never known to take a hiatus, Tweedy is as prolific as ever in his fifth decade, with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of inspiration. Although WARM is one of the most straight forward releases of a Jeff Tweedy-fronted band in recent years, it is not without an experimental edge and demonstrates yet again that not only is Tweedy in the highest echelon of songwriters, he is peerless in his ability to cultivate brilliant album after brilliant album. WARM really is no exception.
- Jonathan Cloumassis.