Album Review: Tweedy - Sukierae

After a 30-year career fronting Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, enigmatic Americana mainstay Jeff Tweedy has finally deigned to release a solo album, albeit one with a caveat - what was planned as a predominantly one-man affair with Tweedy playing every instrument ended up a collaboration with his teenage son Spencer Tweedy on drums (plus some sporadic guest keys and backing vocals).

That aside it remains a Tweedy Snr affair in both scope and composition, and proves a fascinating foray into hitherto uncharted waters.

Tweedy doesn’t deal in half measures, so naturally Sukierae is a 20-song double-album of pop-tinged indie singer-songwriter fare, coloured with country licks, soul flecks and tinges of folk and blues. It’s a calm and assuring selection of songs, with enough variety in mood and construction that it never lags or feels tonally repetitive. A handful of songs stretch out and explore their own boundaries in that finest Wilco tradition (Diamond Light, I’ll Sing It, Down From Above) but for the most part they’re direct and make their point quickly. It’s also an old-fashioned double-album of two halves with completely different vibes; the first seems more studio-oriented and atmospheric, while the second uses space as a weapon and veers towards the quieter, softer end of the spectrum.

Spencer’s drumming is innovative in places but largely unobtrusive, and there’s a natural familial chemistry that helps make Sukierae (the album) a long-but-fruitful journey and Tweedy (the entity) a welcome and intriguing diversion.