Southeastern/ Thirty Tigers

It isn’t surprising that Jason Isbell packs a gut-level narrative punch into his songwriting throughout Southeastern. He’s been doing it for the past decade – the first half with the Drive-By Truckers and the second half leading his own band. But Southeastern marks the first time that his songs have arrived without the artful bluster of Southern grunge guitar, and the first time that he’s been framed as a singer/songwriter in the vein of Kris Kristofferson and other legendary songsmiths. And you know what? It really works. Strip away Isbell’s usual muscular attack and there’s still meat on the bone. His storytelling is keen, blunt and down-to-earth in “Yvette,” narrated by a teenager who has a classmate’s abusive father in his crosshairs. “Live Oak,” the ballad of an outlaw who gets a rare chance at love, and the absolutely masterful “Elephant,” a vignette about being the friend of a terminally ill woman, are standouts. Throughout the dozen tracks, there’s a subtext of shrunken hearts – scarred by addiction and other destructive behavior – slowly expanding again. The only mellow thing about this album is the occasional gauzy
keyboard pad.