Jason Isbell kept up his pattern of releasing a new album every two years, dropping Something More Than Free in 2015. It was his second straight record without the 400 Unit backing him.
This album finds Isbell in the same sweet spot as Here We Rest and Southeastern. All of his releases are good to great, but these three form the Jason Isbell Holy Trinity.
Another two years passed before Jason Isbell released his fourth studio album, 2013’s Southeastern. And they were an eventful two years, finding Isbell in rehab for his drug and alcohol addiction. It was an experience he poured right into the music on this record.
The album was recorded without the 400 Unit due to the personal nature of the material. Initially planned as a solo acoustic release, Isbell eventually brought in other musicians to flesh out the sound.
Jason Isbell toured for a couple of years following his sophomore album release, then took a break to work on his third album. The result, 2011’s Here We Rest, is the record that made me a fan for life.
Here We Rest isn’t the first Isbell album I heard, but it’s the one that cemented him for me as a truly special talent. It’s the moment he fully comes into his own as a solo artist, creating a song cycle that’s achingly sad but reassuringly resilient.
Jason Isbell’s sophomore album was released two years after his debut, in 2009, and marked a break from his Drive-By Truckers past. Rather than utilizing backing musicians and producers from his former band, he formed his own quartet.
Named the 400 Unit after the psychiatric unit of a hospital in Florence, Alabama, the band would be credited on most of Isbell’s future recordings. And they would help shift his music away from his Southern rock roots to a more folk rock/Americana sound. He named the album after the new band, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.
A month back, I promised a deep dive of singer-songwriter Jason Isbell’s catalog, and starting today I’m making good on that pledge. Over the next two weeks I’ll feature tracks from all ten of his solo albums.
Isbell got his start with the Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers. He was just 21, 15 years younger than the band’s founders, when he came under their wing as a protege and signed on as their third guitarist. He spent six years with the band, contributing on three albums as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, before going solo in 2007.
Meet Me In Montauk 