Wilco’s new album is called Star Wars and the band announced it, out-of-the-blue to most people, via their mailing list. For a limited time the album is available as a digital download (mp3 files) at no cost. Pre-orders are being taken on the band’s website for CDs and album version. Releases via iTunes and Amazon will soon follow.
Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer, wrote on Wilco’s Instagram account about the release: “Why release an album this way and why make it free? Well, the biggest reason, and I’m not sure we even need any others, is that it felt like it would be fun.”
Wilco have had a long and eclectic career and Star Wars is their ninth album. The band emerged from the cult country band Uncle Tupelo, and their first offerings remained in the country tradition, albeit with some rock sensibilities. In the band’s mid-period they introduced more experimental aspects to their music, as with the clever Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Wilco also worked with Billy Bragg on a series of “lost” Woody Guthrie songs.
The new album features 11 new tracks. According to Dave Simpson writing in The Guardian, the new offering “successfully blends Bowie space-glam, Beatles psychedelic singsong and Captain Beefheart weirdness.” The album is produced by lead front-man Jeff Tweedy, together with Tom Schick who helped produce the highly acclaimed The Whole Love album.
The new album’s track-list is:
1. “EKG”
2. “More…”
3. “Random Name Generator”
4. “The Joke Explained”
5. “You Satellite”
6. “Taste the Ceiling”
7. “Pickled Ginger”
8. “Where Do I Begin”
9. “Cold Slope”
10. “King of You”
11. “Magnetized”
If you’d rather not download the album, it can also be streamed for free via YouTube:
