It’s been ages since a new Wilco album has been an event, but The Whole Love is the album we’ve been waiting for since A Ghost is Born. It’s exciting, refreshing, and a reminder of what this band does best. It’s bookended by two incredible songs, and between those is enough to spend the next few months digesting.
The first song, “Art of Almost” is a string drenched upbeat pop song. It bops along for six minutes before descending into a panic of noise and guitar solos. It’s the perfect beginning to a fantastic record.
At the end of the record is “One Sunday Morning, a mostly acoustic thing that feels short even at twelve minutes. In the song Jeff Tweedy sings about an overly religious father in a manner that is gripping, and a little terrifying. You can feel the truth leaking out of Tweedy’s voice, even while the song is quiet enough that it might be easily missed. It’s a brilliant prayer of a song that reminds us of why exactly we love this band.
In between those two songs we have the most experimental Wilco record in years. It could be a result of this being the first record on the band’s own label, but that doesn’t really matter. Songs like “Dawned On Me” and “Rising Red Lung” are incredibly captivating and the record as a whole is highly recommended.
