Description
Cruel Country is an album title that cuts two ways, the “country” referring either to a nation or a musical genre. The duality is deliberate, as Wilco are grappling not only with America’s tumultuous present but also the band’s fraught legacy with country music. Jeff Tweedy cut his teeth as part of Uncle Tupelo, the pioneering alt-country group that sowed the seeds for the Americana movement early in the 1990s.
The band members recorded Cruel Country in entirely live takes, the first time they’ve worked that way since their tranquil 2007 highpoint Sky Blue Sky. Their signature stately, richly textured interplay is so automatic at this point that the album doesn’t really feel looser or even all that more casual than previous Wilco records. But it is less polished, like the most beautifully ornamented home recording imaginable
As buoyant as the interaction fueling the music may be, Cruel Country isn’t a particularly raucous album. The tempos rarely break a sweat, the volume is restrained, and the spirit is hushed. The quiet nature is born of a shared space where every member of Wilco feels at ease.
