Jeff Tweedy On New Wilco Album, “I’m so dang excited”
Jeff Tweedy has written about the upcoming Wilco album, Cousin, in his latest post on Starship Casual, his substack.
Cousin will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally on 29 September, and is available for pre-order now.
Tweedy wrote, “I’m so dang excited about it and I just can’t…keep my excitement to myself. It’s produced by our dear friend Cate Le Bon (she says I’m her best friend, BTW) who braved Chicago wintertime to record it with us.
“I think it’s a pop record. Art-pop to be more specific. Not “pop” as in “pop”-ular. That’s not really up to us. It’s kind of like when we said Cruel Country was our idea of country music and a lot of people went, “Huh?! this doesn’t sound like Colt Steed!” (or some other plausible sounding country mega-star name).”
The singer went on, “To me, pop music will always be the genre that people used to also refer to as’“Bubblegum.’ It’s sweet and seemingly meant for mindless consumption, but has a Trojan Horse-like power to transform minds and hearts. I love it. Always have.
“This particular pop album, being largely recorded during said Chicago winter, adds a layer of frozen, sugary ice. Not cold, unfeeling ice. Pretty ice, so everything can slip around a bit and feel a little unsure of itself—a little less serious. And sugar because of, you know, the whole ‘bubblegum pop’ thing—wanting it to be how that genre feels to me. Sweet and easy. Shiny and sad.
“When I saw Azuma Makoto’s art, I couldn’t believe my eyes at how close it felt to the way this record feels to me. Like when I was a kid I used to think some candy was too pretty to eat. But I did anyway.”
Wilco will tour Europe, the UK, Ireland, Mexico and the United States surrounding the album’s release – tickets on sale here.