album review: 'reunions' by jason isbell & the 400 unit

In 2017, I made what many people would argue was a charged statement: that country music was on the forefront of the broader culture war across the United States, and that if there was an album that felt like a broadside across an established paradigm, it was The Nashville Sound by Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit. And looking back on that time, I can see why I made that statement: the album had sold well and stuck around conversation, even penetrating outside the alternative or indie country spaces. It was making waves, one of the most potent singer-songwriters of the past two decades on a hot streak of incredibly moving material and some of the best albums of their respective years, and he was not holding back.

But looking back, that statement was hyperbolic, maybe overly optimistic at assuming the project had that much divisive power… or was I? If anything it’s seemed like Jason Isbell’s public profile has grown with every passing year in fits and spurts - hell, with that ‘30-50 feral hogs’ meme he saw exposure onine in a way country never gets. But it’s also hard to argue that his increasingly left-leaning political stance has split audiences. And it’s kind of fascinating to see how this has impacted conservative-leaning critics, both within country and the indie scene who have not reacted the best to his complicated and messy disavowal of former friend, songwriter, unrepentant asshole and now accused sexual abuser Ryan Adams. These critics were champions of Isbell and even now struggle to deny how great of a writer he is, but read the reviews and you start seeing any possible nitpick blown to frankly absurd proportions, or see any political subtext amplified for good or ill - and that’s not strictly a condemnation of that, given all criticism is based upon subjective experience, but when it becomes hyperbolic or willfully disingenuous, then I start asking questions.

And on a different scale, this is true for the left as well, who have amplified Isbell’s politics really beyond a lot of the text on display - hell, take my initial statement and on retrospect, again it feels hyperbolic, especially given the more directly charged albums released in the past few years - even Isbell’s wife Amanda Shires with the Highwomen would make transgressive statements as potent as his, if not moreso. And that led to be very curious where his newest album Reunions would be going - once again teaming up with Dave Cobb on production, but reportedly a more lush and varied experience than his previously pretty bare albums, even the more raucous moments on The Nashville Sound. It sounded like it’d be more experimental, and given interviews have suggested a tempestuous recording session that tested his relationship with his wife to the limit, I was worried what could have come of this, so what did we get from Reunions?

So this is a tough album to evaluate on a number of levels, partially because there’s more going on in comparison with Something More Than Free andThe Nashville Sound, partially because it’s stuck in the unenviable position of being compared to both of those projects, partially because it’s a less immediate experience as a whole, but also partially because its mood and character is much more unstable and unsettled in comparison with previous projects. And you might think that sounds crazy compared to The Nashville Sound and how raucous and raw it could be, but the core was intact, and there is a stability in making the choice to be vulnerable. Reunions, on the other hand, might not have the barn-burners of the last album but is more unsettled at its core - Isbell has confessed this was a hard album to make and if you can’t hear it in the sound because of veteran proficiency and Dave Cobb smoothing the rough edges, it absolutely comes through in the writing and delivery.

And it gets political in spots, but in a way that’s not as obvious as ‘White Man’s World’ or ‘Hope The High Road’, and yet it feels more confrontational on a bone-deep level - this isn’t playing talking points, this is attempting to hit at the human spirit and the values of the audience. Take the opening song ‘What’ve I Done To Help’, which might seem to be autobiographical in finding comfort in family but that message changes when you realize midway through the temptation to pull the ladder up from behind you, all the more easy with privilege and with a world on fire, so the question and sense of guilt cuts much deeper - that’s the individual journey vs. the collective good! And ‘Be Afraid’ is even more loaded, which seems to be an explicit callout to people in the middle vaciliating on political choices for fear of taking a stand, where Isbell says to embrace that fear and do the right thing anyway, if not for yourself but for your future offspring, as he’s not going to just shut up and sing. Now I’ve seen the criticism from some conservatives and folks in the middle that this is self-righteous and convinced of the moral truth in his cause, and on some level people don’t like the feeling of being blamed or compelled to act, but my response to that is a.) the song is abstract enough to not even take much of a hard stance except for courage, b.) if you’re feeling a twinge of guilt that’s on your emotional response to the art and might be worth examining, and c.) if you’ve made the choice to surrender your voice against systemic injustice and rising authoritianism - hell, Kendrick Lamar said on DAMN. three years ago that’s what the majority of well-meaning people will do if it’s easy - that’s on you as well. I mean, we’d like to think empathy isn’t all that political, after all.

And if you’re looking for the thematic core to this project, any of this being easy is not a part of it, and simply in how Isbell tells stories of family makes that brutally clear. One of the lead singles ‘Dreamsicle’ primes the pump, capturing the initial innocence and hopes of a child in the face of a broken family that lets him down, and you can tell he’s outright terrified of failing in the same way - mostly because he knows he’s vulnerable to it. This expands off the groundwork of vulnerability he laid on The Nashville Sound but cuts deeper like on ‘Only Children’, telling the story of a wild young friendship where said friend dies of their vices, and you know the subtext is Isbell could have wound up the same - and that same undercurrent of recklesssness slides into ‘It Gets Easier’, which is very frank with Isbell’s alcoholism and how easy it would be to relapse and succumb. But if this was just focused on Isbell’s own demons, that’d be one thing, but in the way he’ll highlight the failure of parents he’ll also look at the natural strain in relationships: the tension and fragile nature of trust between partners on ‘Running With Our Eyes Closed’ where logic and reason might not suffice; the couple split apart on ‘Overseas’ where dreams are getting chased halflway across the world as he tries to hold the house together in a crumbling world and the messy emotions that come out of that; or how he struggles to comfort his wife as she deals with the death of a close friend on ‘St. Peter’s Autograph’, give her some vestige of hope that this person is in a better place. And a song like ‘River’ - likely a larger metaphor for the passage of time - in facing the weight of sins and vices and alienation from the world and the people he loves, at some point the solitary man cannot stand alone and must accept the tide, with the hope of preserving more along the way. Hell, it’s why the final song ‘Letting You Go’ is directed at his daughter in finding the ability to let her live her life and find that next level of trust - the album is in essence testing and questioning the value we place on our relationships, and no wonder it can sound so fragile and tenuous, especially when you yourself feel every incentive to sabotage them. It’s the struggle to be better, and the acknowledgement we only can with each other.

And I could go on pointing out the thematic richness reinforced by all the little details Isbell includes to paint his stories, and he’s still a fantastic writer in painting the scene, but if the music isn’t there in full then it’s not going to hit in the same way, especially given that Isbell is working with more diverse and expansive arrangements this time around in comparison with his past three albums. And this might be one one of the reasons why the more political moments don’t hit as strongly as they could here, because from a production and compositional standpoint I’d argue ‘What’ve I Done To Help’ and ‘Be Afraid’ are two of the weakest moments on the project, the former just running way too long and the latter with a lot of flattened smolder that kind of gets swalllowed up in its own production effects by the end. This is definitely a point where you can tell Dave Cobb was experimenting a little to flesh out the soundscape beyond the more stately mix that he’s delivered before, and not all of the experiments land - the oddly hooting guitar solo on ‘St. Peter’s Autograph’, any synth layering that slides in, a little too much reverb around some of the vocals in spots - even if his bass mixing has gotten considerably better, these are distracting moments. Hell, this calls back to why the production was so spare on previous projects: when the writing is as good as it is, get out of the way for it! But here’s the thing: it’s still Dave Cobb,, the production quality is absolutely going to be there across an amazingly well-balanced and textured mix, and Isbell leaning more into his desire to cut loose on the guitar is welcome in adding some of that ragged feel. I love the multitude of electric guitar timbres that flesh out the mix, carrying texture and tone but also leaning a little cooler than how warm they’ve sounded in the past, and I still think Cobb is one of the best fiddle producers working in giving Amanda Shires everything she needs. What I found was a real treat, though, came in the composition, because while cuts like ‘Letting You Go’ and ‘River’ felt more conventional, that parallel in chord structures to Steven Wilson I first started hearing on Something More Than Free is absolutely back on cuts like ‘Overseas’, and it gives the album such a distinctive character. Hell, ‘Running With Our Eyes Closed’ goes for bassy, slow-burn Southern swagger and it’s never been a lane I’ve thought Isbell would take, but even with the synth touches it sounds fantastic!

And yet as a whole… look, for me Jason Isbell is a very easy sell on writing alone, and on a thematic level I’d argue this holds together as much if not moreso compared to his best, even over Something More Than Free. But on a sonic level, I’d also say it has the most moments that don’t quite land, and the shuddering bleakness of so much of it between the lines makes it a tougher, more harrowing listen, and I don’t think it has the towering standouts of ‘Cumberland Gap’ or ‘If We Were Vampires’. Granted, that’s an opinion that will evolve as the year progresses, but it does mean I don’t quite adore this in the same way I did the past two albums… which means it’s a very light 9/10 and highly recommended, but it’s got a much steeper hill to climb to be among my favourite albums of 2020, we’ll have to see. But otherwise… I can hear this album being challenging for some audiences, but man, it’s still worth it all the same. Absolutely take the time, check this out.