Wilco is back with details of a new album, Cousin, news of which arrives alongside the lead single, “Evicted”. Out September 29th via the band’s own dBpm Records, Cousin marks the first release by Wilco’s label under its new distribution agreement with Sony Entertainment Music.
Cousin also marks the first time Wilco has brought in a producer from outside its inner circle since 2007’s Sky Blue Sky. Welsh musician/producer Cate Le Bon (Kurt Vile, Deerhunter) left her mark on the new 10-track LP with the inclusion of saxophone, cheap Japanese guitar, and a “cinematic, New Wave-style drum machine – to drive the album into the future,” a press release states.
“The amazing thing about Wilco is they can be anything,” Le Bon said. “They’re so mercurial, and there’s this thread of authenticity that flows through everything they do, whatever the genre, whatever the feel of the record. There aren’t many bands who are able to, this deep into a successful career, successfully change things up.”
The two parties initially met at Wilco’s curated Solid Sound Festival back in 2019. The artistic kinship was immediate, spurring bandleader Jeff Tweedy to invite Le Bon to the group’s hallowed Chicago studio The Loft in 2022 to record Cousin. In the studio, Le Bon challenged the band by introducing new ideas and instruments, all while maintaining the group’s established identity of the last 30 years.
“Cate is very suspicious of sentiment,” Tweedy said, “but she’s not suspicious of human connection.”
The fine line between sentiment and connection is heard in the lead single, “Evicted”. The dreary vocals’ apathy and down-and-out, busted lyrical content are classic Wilco—a welcome return to form following the band’s epic 2LP country excursion Cruel Country last year. As Tweedy’s protagonist grapples with the responsibility of dealing with one’s own selfishly callous actions, Nels Cline responds with scathing guitars.
“I guess I was trying to write from the point of view of someone struggling to make an argument for themself in the face of overwhelming evidence that they deserve to be locked out of someone’s heart,” Tweedy said of the song. “Self-inflicted wounds still hurt and in my experience they’re almost impossible to fully recover from.”
As for the album’s title, Cousin, Tweedy said, “I’m cousin to the world. I don’t feel like I’m a blood relation, but maybe I’m a cousin by marriage.”
Check out “Evicted”, the lead single from Wilco’s upcoming album Cousin. The album is available here for pre-order in vinyl, CD, and digital formats. The band will tour Europe, the U.K., Ireland, Mexico, and the U.S. surrounding the project’s release. See below for a full list of tour dates and visit the band’s website for tickets.
Wilco – “Evicted” [Official Lyric Video]
