Jason Isbell - Southeastern

An NPR interview was telling enough to get me to try our Jason's new album. I certainly knew who the Drive-By Truckers were back in the day, but they were also outside of my wheelhouse. I am mellower now, so maybe I can more closely get behind an ex-drunk's tales of mournful drunkenness.

And while the opener "Cover Me Up" is an apologetic romantic letter of a man back from a darker side; the rest, of course, it's not all that morbid at all. Jason's really a fine singer/songwriter in the Nashville tradition, while still earning his title as "Americana" or even "Alt-Country" by avoiding the trappings of glossy C&W radio.

And like any good country record, Jason's got some road songs. They involve the road-weary guy and the pining-romantic guy. "Stockholm" is a smartly worded mid-tempo track that describes the differences from the old addict and the new man with a home to get to. "Traveling Alone", though, is a little more on the typical side. Call the latter the poor man's version of the former.

Other standouts include "Elephant", a great fireside tale of hanging out with a good friend. The elephant in the room being ignored is the cancer- turning the ode to a requiem "New South Wales" was the track played on the radio that day that led me to this review. "God bless the busted boat that brings us back."

And while most of the tracks are folky tales about redemption, the blaring stand-out might be the biggest crowd favorite. "Super 8" is the only rocker on the record. Not so against the grain, as the song is about wild days in the past. I don't mind saying, it souded like fun. And whatever ailed Jason to get to a place where he's 90% more mellow than this track, at least it got him a quality collection of songs. (4 of 5 stars)