Wilco have announced as they put it “a new member of the family”. Wilco’s 13th studio album will be called ‘Cousin’ and be available September 29th in the UK and indeed worldwide on CD, vinyl and digitally via dBpm Records. “I’m cousin to the world,” frontman Jeff Tweedy commented. “I don’t feel like I’m a blood relation, but maybe I’m a cousin by marriage.”
Produced by the singular Welsh artist Cate Le Bon, ‘Cousin’ marks the first time Wilco has handed the reins over to an outsider producer since ‘Sky Blue Sky’. Le Bon’s influences—among them the inclusion of saxophone (eek!), cheap Japanese guitars, and a cinematic New Wave-style drum machine—suggest a more futuristic sound than previous releases although on the basis of the first track to be released from it ‘Evicted’ (which you can aurally peruse below) which is sublimely classic Wilco, the sound hasn’t dramatically changed. It’s described as the band’s “most pointed and evocative album, one related but not tied to our present moment, truly new ground for a band that has tested musical boundaries throughout its lengthy career.”
Look out for a review on AUK next month and in the meantime, Wilco head to the UK for a handful of dates from the end of this month.
‘Cousin’ Tracklist:
01 Infinite Surprise
02 Ten Dead
03 Levee
04 Evicted
05 Sunlight Ends
06 A Bowl and a Pudding
07 Cousin
08 Pittsburgh
09 Soldier Child
10 Meant to Be
Sounds brilliant