Southeastern [10th Anniversary Edition]

by Jason Isbell

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Jason Isbell's deeply dark and personal 4th album, Southeastern, has been released with bonus demos and live versions of songs from the original album, along with updated cover art showing Jason’s face now, 10 years in the future. Featuring the devastatingly beautiful track "Elephant," Southeastern portrays a Jason Isbell at a turning point in his career — sober, honing his craft, finding a new love.

Jason Isbell was one of three first-class songwriters in the Drive-By Truckers, along with Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, and each of them had (and has) his own spin on the kind of raucous Southern soul-country that band specialized in. When Isbell left in 2007 to pursue a solo career, there was every reason to believe he would continue in the same vein. Instead, Isbell produced work that still had some Alabama country twang, but was really closer to the folky singer/songwriter side of the spectrum, full of graceful melodies with thoughtful and literate lyrics. On this outing, Isbell strips things back even more, going with, for the most part, sparse, moody arrangements and songs that muse on the responsibilities of his newfound sobriety, an atonement of sorts, and they tell of lost weekends, drinking mouthwash when the alcohol ran out, and other sordid personal tragedies, all with an eye to how it seems to work out when problems are embraced, addressed, and finally owned. As such, this is an ultimately positive set that doesn't pull punches. Highlights include the beautiful opening love song "Cover Me Up," the elegant and sort of baroque country-rocker "Stockholm," the blast-along "Super 8" (which wouldn't sound out of place on any of the Truckers albums), and the love ballad "Relatively Easy," which closes things out here. The overall tone of this fine set is one of quiet and thoughtful honesty with one's life and past and the knowledge that personal redemption has to be earned again and again each and every day. It is, quite frankly, Isbell's best solo album thus far. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	09/29/2023
Label:	Southeastern Records
UPC:	0691835756226
Rank:	12449

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Cover Me Up
2. Stockholm
3. Traveling Alone
4. Elephant
5. Flying Over Water
6. Different Days
7. Live Oak
8. Songs That She Sang in the Shower
9. New South Wales
10. Super 8
11. Yvette
12. Relatively Easy

Disc 2

13. Cover Me Up
14. Stockholm
15. Traveling Alone
16. Elephant
17. Flying Over Water
18. Different Days
19. Live Oak
20. Songs That She Sang in the Shower
21. New South Wales
22. Yvette
23. Relatively Easy

Disc 3

24. Intro
25. Cover Me Up
26. Stockholm
27. Traveling Alone
28. Elephant
29. Flying Over Water
30. Different Days
31. Live Oak
32. Songs That She Sang in the Shower
33. New South Wales
34. Super 8
35. Yvette
36. Relatively Easy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jason Isbell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Kim Richey   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Paul Griffith   Drums
Jimbo Hart   Bass
Chad Gamble   Drums
Brian Allen   Bass,Bass
Sadler Vaden   Guitar
Amanda Shires   Vocals (Background),Fiddle,Vocals
Dave Cobb   Percussion
Derry Deborja   Keyboards,Mellotron
Will Johnson   Vocals

Technical Credits

Geoff Stanfield   Engineer
Pete Lyman   Mastering
Danny Clinch   Portrait Photography
Jason Isbell   Composer,Performer
Sylvia Massy   Mixing
Josh Weichman   Photography
Pearl Rachinsky   Art Direction
John Michael Brady   Drum Technician
Ian Rickard   Mixing
Daniel Bacigalupi   Assistant
Michael Wilson   Photography
Chris Kro   Art Direction
Dave Cobb   Producer
Mark Petaccia   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Cain Hogsed   Mixing,Engineer