Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
Previous albums with his band The 400 Unit have seen Jason Isbell mining the Southern rock and soul roots of his Alabama/Tennessee heritage, but Southeastern finds him working in a more stripped-down manner which focuses attention firmly on his songs. Fortunately, they're brilliant: vivid, multi-faceted tales of souls adrift. Regretful reminiscences like "Different Days" rub shoulders with more problematic tableaux: the man plotting the murder of a paedophile in "Yvette", and, most creepily, the schizophrenic in "Live Oak" wondering which side of him his lover is attracted to.
Download: Cover Me Up; Elephant; Live Oak; Different Days
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies