Jason Isbell continues a strong string of releases with album No 7
On seventh album Reunions, the US singer-songwriter’s band The 400 Unit lets his words and stories to take centre stage.
COUNTRY SOUL
Reunions
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Spunk Records/Caroline
“It gets easier,” sings Jason Isbell in his song of the same name on Reunions, “but it never gets easy.” Now eight years sober, the Alabamian singer-songwriter is referring to his ongoing battle with the bottle, just one more ghost from his past. Isbell communes with lots of ghosts on his seventh album, hence its title. Reunions finds him reacquainting with dead friends (Only Children), current and former lovers (Overseas, Running With Our Eyes Closed), places he remembers (River), versions of himself (Dreamsicle, Be Afraid, It Gets Easier), even the people closest to him (St Peter’s Autograph, Letting You Go). By his own admission, his last three albums — 2017’s The Nashville Sound, 2015’s Something More Than Free and 2013’s breakthrough release, Southeastern — were always going to be hard acts to follow, but Reunions cuts through. Producer Dave Cobb is back on board and the 400 Unit is intact, with guests David Crosby and Jay Buchanan (Rival Sons) adding lush backing vocals. Led by guitarist Sadler Vaden and keyboardist Derry deBorja, with Isbell’s wife Amanda Shires on fiddle, the Unit is never less than sympathetic to the songs, allowing Isbell’s words and stories to take centre stage. “This used to be a ghost town but even the ghosts got out”, the opening line from Overseas, is just one of his regular zingers. He retains the art of diffusing serious subject matter with a dash of humour, as on It Gets Easier, a song based on a drunk’s relapse dream in which his hand holding a glass “turns into a rattlesnake / I laughed myself awake / That’s how I knew it was a joke”. It works in reverse too, as on River, where what starts as clear-eyed nostalgia bleeds into a chilling murder ballad, or Dreamsicle, the ruminations of a 14-year-old caught in the middle of a marriage break-up. There’s poignancy too, as Isbell pictures his infant daughter’s life unfolding before his eyes (Letting You Go), or takes laconic aim at the life of a working musician (Be Afraid): “We don’t take requests / We won’t shut up and sing / You tell the truth enough / You find it rhymes with everything.”
Phil Stafford
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JAZZ
Quirks
Steve Arie
Independent
This is an unusual and charming album. After 30 years of being known as a bass player, Steve Arie emerges here as an alto saxophonist. His quartet features two frontline instruments only: himself and Paul Cutlan, who, despite his virtuosic command of the whole saxophone/clarinet family, plays only bass clarinet. A rhythm section of double bass (Abel Cross) and drums (Nic Cecire) functions without a chordal instrument. This is modern jazz pared back to its essentials. Still, Arie’s 12 compositions are full of attractive musical ideas, and interactions between the alto sax and bass clarinet, often in collective improvisation, are beautiful to hear. The improvisations are a delight, and the excellent rhythm section grooves, even at an energy level of subtle chamber music. The cumulative effect of this highly enjoyable album, full of melodic beauty, is that it invokes the feeling that all is well.
Eric Myers
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ALTERNATIVE
Flip Phone Fantasy
Ocean Grove
UNFD
To describe Ocean Grove as “eclectic” feels reductive, almost to its disservice. At a time where most of its scene peers are aspiring to be the next Parkway Drive or Amity Affliction, Ocean Grove’s approach aligns closer to that of Ween: that is, going all-in on any genre the band sees fit before unflinchingly hopping to the next. Take the singles released from its second album: jolty lead-off track Ask For The Anthem is essentially Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack with sleeve tattoos. Neo, meanwhile, is a shout-along fist-pumper that would feel immediately at home on Andrew WK’s I Get Wet. That’s not even touching the band’s headfirst dives into alt-metal, grunge and pop across Flip Phone Fantasy ’s 37-minute runtime. Not everything lands. The inexplicable acoustic detour, Baby Cobra, bores rather than soothes, but Ocean Grove deserves respect on ambition alone.
David James Young
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POST-PUNK
Far Enough
Cable Ties
Poison City Record
Cable Ties would be gripping even without vocals, thanks to Jenny McKechnie’s gnashing guitar lines and a blistering pub-punk rhythm section in drummer Shauna Boyle and bassist Nick Brown. But McKechnie’s wall-shaking roar and systematically scathing lyrics elevate the Melbourne trio to something more profound and empowering, especially on this second album. Tell Them Where to Go instructs outsiders to grab an instrument and start their own bands, while Sandcastles singles out people tearing others down for sport and Self-Made Man skewers wealth disparity. For all their knotty ferocity, these anthems also introduce increasing variety, from layered vocal harmonies to extended instrumental runs. In fact, McKechnie sings more softly than ever to open the album with Hope, an urgent call for personal resilience that’s as emotional as it is autobiographical.
Doug Wallen
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HIP-HOP
Bad News
Butterfingers
Independent
After a 14-year hiatus, Brisbane hip-hop misfits Butterfingers return with an aptly titled comeback album. Evil Eddie’s rapid-fire lyrics shoot like Skittles over growling guitars and drums nicked from an 80s metal band. Just like Queensland itself, this album throws a bunch of conflicting, contrasting flavours together and lets them melt into each other under relentless warmth. “Had my head up my arse so long, couldn’t see things going wrong,” sings Eddie on Suburbia. Subjects such as drug addiction, missed opportunities, the pain of raising children, and — as heard on Dem Billz — being chased by the tax office all keep the entertaining storytelling going from top to tail. This sounds like a bunch of enthusiastic young punks thrashing out their suburban frustration in the garage. It’s raw, candid, fun, funny and consistent, with each track leading energetically into the next.
Cat Woods
Pop-rock hit at the horrors of social media
Dear Evan Hansen’s pop-rock score is full of attractive songs. The best are sung gorgeously by endearing and optimistic star Beau Woodbridge, despite being pitched treacherously high.
Five shows to watch this week
A silly, sexy, salacious romp called Rivals is based on Jilly Cooper’s famous book, plus South Korea’s dying breed of haenyeo – women divers.