Jeff Tweedy, "Warm" (dBpm Records)
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy isn't known for being warm and fuzzy.
So it's with some irony that his first proper solo record of all new material is titled "Warm."
But it's also so Tweedy.
Take "Let's Go Rain," for example. At first blush its upbeat tempo and catchy chorus makes it sound very much like a feel-good campfire singalong song. But that's where Tweedy fools you — the song is actually a wish for another biblical flood to wipe the world clean and start over again.
Ah, Jeff! You jokester.
The sound on "Warm" is somewhere between Tweedy's solo acoustic shows and the finely tuned jet-engine rock of Wilco. It has a similar vibe to many of the songs on "Sukierae," a side project Tweedy released in 2014 outside of Wilco under the band name of Tweedy.
Exploring life, death, love and heartbreak is familiar territory for Tweedy in Wilco, and he hits on all of those themes with "Warm." The record comes after the death of his father, his wife's battle with cancer and coincides with the release of Tweedy's memoir, "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)."
Tweedy is at his most introspective in "Having Been is No Way to Be," reflecting on his sobriety and those who wish he weren't.
"We all think about dying," Tweedy sings on "Don't Forget" before adding in perfectly fitting Tweedy fashion, "Don't let it kill you."
