About Wilco · Chicago, IL
Wilco’s new album Cruel Country is out May 27th via dBpm Records. It’s a substantial two-disc exploratory work that embraces their alternative country roots that began in Uncle Tupelo and is composed primarily of live takes with a few overdubs. The band – Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Pat Sansone and Nels Cline – collaborated at Chicago’s The Loft unseparated by baffles. It’s a totally different way of making records that Wilco hasn’t used since Sky Blue Sky, forcing the band to surrender control and learn to trust each other and their imperfections, like gathering around a wild collective instrument.
The record is built around a loose conceptual narrative on the history of the United States, including a chronologically accurate portrait of America. It mixes up Tweedy’s personal feelings about his homeland, often woven with deep collective myths. Cruel Country doesn’t shy away from troubles and celebrates that country music aims squarely at the low-hanging fruit of the truth. It’s cruel, but beautiful, country.