Die innovative Chicagoer Rockband Wilco kehrt mit ihrem 12. Studioalbum zurück, dem ersten seiner Art. Cruel Country ist die Erkundung des Genres, durch das sich die Band oft definiert hat, das sie aber bis jetzt nie vollständig verinnerlicht hat. Das Doppelalbum enthält 21 Tracks aus der Feder von Jeff Tweedy, die fast vollständig aus Live-Aufnahmen bestehen, die zum ersten Mal seit dem 2011 erschienenen Album The Whole Love mit allen sechs Bandmitgliedern gemeinsam im The Loft entstanden sind.

Das 12. Album von Wilco hat bisher einen unglaublichen Weg hinter sich. Ursprünglich wurde es den Solid Sound-Teilnehmern kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt, gefolgt von einer digitalen Veröffentlichung am 27. Mai (demselben Tag, an dem die Band es in seiner Gesamtheit live auf dem Festival aufführte). Von der NYT als Wilcos »unaufdringliches Magnum Opus« gelobt und später am Record Store Day als White Label CD veröffentlicht. Jetzt landet es in guter Gesellschaft auf den »Best of 2022«-Listen von Rolling Stone, Variety, Spin, Uproxx und Paste UND seine lang erwartete physische Veröffentlichung ist fast da!

Schon früh, als sie aus Uncle Tupelo hervorgingen, gab es die Idee, dass Wilco eine Country-Band sei, oder zumindest eine alternative Country-Band. Und es gibt Beweise dafür - »in allem, was wir je gemacht haben, gab es Elemente von Country-Musik«, sagt Jeff Tweedy. »Wir haben uns nie besonders wohl dabei gefühlt, diese Definition zu akzeptieren, die Idee, dass ich Country-Musik mache. Aber jetzt, nachdem wir ein paar Mal um den Block gegangen sind, finden wir es aufregend, uns innerhalb der Form zu befreien und die einfache Einschränkung zu akzeptieren, die Musik, die wir machen, Country zu nennen.«

»Cruel Country« besteht fast vollständig aus Live-Aufnahmen, mit nur wenigen Overdubs. Alle - Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Pat Sansone und Nels Cline - waren im Raum und spielten zusammen im The Loft in Chicago, ungetrennt durch Schalldämpfer. Es ist eine völlig andere Art, Platten zu machen, die Wilco seit Jahren nicht mehr verwendet hat - vielleicht nicht mehr seit »Sky Blue Sky«.

When Wilco announced the upcoming release of their album Cruel Country in late April 2022, it immediately generated a lot of excitement from a part of their fan base that hadn't been heard from much in a while. In the initial press releases on the LP, Jeff Tweedy described it as a country album, exciting news for the folks who had been following the band since their earliest days as Tweedy's post-Uncle Tupelo project, and had felt disappointed since their audible twang essentially disappeared with 1999's Summerteeth. But anyone hoping Cruel Country was going to take Wilco back to the rollicking alt-country sound of 1995's A.M. or 1996's Being There needs to adjust their expectations. Though Cruel Country is indeed the most "country" album Wilco have delivered in over 20 years, it's not "country" in the way they sounded in the mid-'90s. Instead, this is mostly acoustic country-inspired music merged with folk and filtered through the sort of musical and lyrical impressionism that became Tweedy's worldview since he developed a voice fully separate from the other guy who co-founded Uncle Tupelo. (In its emphasis on ambience and occasional washes of electronic soundscapes, this is as much Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as Being There.)

Cruel Country marks the first time in several years circumstances permitted Wilco to record together live in the same room, and the performances have the subtle but very human feel of six people sitting in a circle and reacting in the moment to one another's ideas and energy. Some think of Wilco as Jeff Tweedy and whoever else he brings along (and his status as uncontested leader is well established), but the best moments on Cruel Country show how much more they truly are. On longer cuts like "Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull" and "Many Words," hearing the musicians stretch out and weave their performances around one another is quietly dazzling, especially Nels Cline's steel guitar and Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen's keyboards. There's very little flash in this music, but there's a warmth and excitement in the process of creation that's deeply satisfying, even joyous. Lyrically, Cruel Country is very much an album about America, written with an eye toward the nation's collective history as well as the division of the 2020s, and when Tweedy sings, "I love my country/Stupid and cruel," he makes it clear that as much as the second part troubles him, the first part isn't irony. While 2015's Star Wars, 2016's Schmilco, and 2019's Ode to Joy were all fine in their own ways, they often had the feel of a band throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and seeing what would stick (and this is a band good enough to get away with that). Cruel Country, however, feels as unified and well plotted as anything in Wilco's catalog, and it's deeply moving, powerfully heartfelt music from a handful of gifted players serving their songs beautifully.

(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)