Isbell cements his place among best

‘Lapse of Luxury’ wild

JBy Scott Stroud

(Southeastern/Thirty Tigers) Jason Isbell long ago earned his place among the finest songwriters of his generation. Now he’s just pouring it on.

On “Reunions,” Isbell’s seventh full-length album and fourth with the 400 Unit, the four-time Grammy winner firms up his place on the short list of artists whom you could draw up a list of 25 best songs and start real arguments. It’s territory typically reserved for people such as Isbell’s late pal and mentor, John Prine, but Isbell keeps proving he belongs there.

As Isbell works the vortex between folk, country and rock, a range of influences surface, including Prine, but the sound is distinctly his own. A master of lyrical surprise, Isbell paints childhood summerscapes, recalls secret meeting places and then pierces the rapture with reminders of brokenness and hurt. In “Dreamsicle,” for example, the taste of ice cream on a summer night gives way to mama “curling up beside me, crying to herself.”

A different kind of friction animates “Overseas,” where a guitar hook that would make Tom Petty proud lends majesty to a wistful lament about separation.

The album’s early singles, “What’ve I Done to Help?” and “Be Afraid,” will play well in concert, but there are better songs here. Isbell is at his best when he’s leaning into life, where things are never easy.

The 400 Unit shines throughout. “River” features Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires, playing fiddle and it’s glorious. When Isbell sings a lyric, Shires plays a little flourish that sounds like she’s demonstrating what he just sang about — like commentary. She’s been doing that for years, but it’s still a marvel.

Isbell’s music has that grow-on-you quality that makes it hard to measure instantly against his previous work. That’s not a flaw, to be clear — and it’s safe to say this album will start some new arguments.

❑ ❑ ❑

Brian Wright, “Lapse of Luxury” (Cafe Rooster

Records)

An inventory of the backyard shed where Brian Wright recorded his latest album might find at least one of everything.

“Lapse of Luxury” features bells and whistles and even a song titled “Bells & Whistles.” Wright spent three years making the record at his home in Nashville, played most of the parts and ended up with a rock album that doesn’t rock much.

But it’s a wild, entertaining ride, quirky and whimsical, tuneful and hooky. There are samples and sound effects, backing vocals that swoop in and out, spoken bits and naughty bits as Wright draws on antecedents older than he is. To underscore his fondness for the psychedelic ’60s, he drops the word acid more than once.

Variety is a constant, as are a strong rhythmic foundation and the nonconformist characters in his songs. Wright sings about a fear of heights on the stomper “High Rise,” which closes with a descending synthesizer as a punch line. The tipsy country gospel of “Tractor Beam” somehow fits with the hazy horn-fed R&B of “Bells & Whistles” and the Lennon-esque singalong “You Can’t Win a War Without Love.”

Deadheads will love it, as will Beckheads.

It’s been over a decade since reggae king Buju Banton and R&B star John Legend collaborated on a song, and the Grammy winners have reunited for a new track.

Banton and Legend released the easygoing love song “Memories” on Friday. It is the first single from Banton’s upcoming album “Upside Down,” his first studio project since 2010’s “Before the Dawn.”

“This is another special one with my good friend John,” Banton said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. “We hope the masses love it.”

Legend and Banton first collaborated in 2009 on the song “Can’t Be My Lover.”

“I was so excited to collaborate with Buju on another song. He’s an icon, and this song is another classic,” Legend said in a statement.

Banton has released several singles since returning to the music industry following a federal prison stint that derailed his career and life. He was released in December 2018 after serving seven years on drug charges.

Banton, one of the most respected acts in reggae, said his time away contributed to his evolution and he hopes it can be heard through his new music.

Since being freed, Banton has made several career splashes. He signed a deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company, released the songs “Steppa” and “Trust,” and was well-received during a comeback concert in his native Jamaica last year, marking one of the country’s largest shows with more than 30,000 attendees.

The 46-year-old Banton said he’s all about showing his maturity.

“Sometimes what it takes to go up there and be among what they call fame, fortune and stardom, it’s impulsive,” he said. “And what it is for me? I’m a righteous and humble soldier.”

Jurado, “What’s New, Tomboy?” (Mama Bird Recording Co.)

Damien Jurado’s “What’s New, Tomboy?” is a deceptively simple collection of delicate vignettes, wrapped in subdued arrangements brimming with layers of wistful melodies.

Jurado’s 15th album is nearly all self-made, from the songwriting and production to the cover art, but Josh Gordon’s bass guitar is a key component, both foundation and filigree.

Some of the album’s songs, named after people like “Francine,” “Sandra” and “Frankie,” are tales of fragility, romance, commitment, maturity and conflict. Jurado’s worn voice, at once intimate and distant, lends them empathy and credibility.

Opener “Birds Tricked Into the Trees” is melancholy in that Ron Sexsmith way, an electric guitar weaving itself around a weeping melody and a pondering aphorism — “It’s all about/Knowing when to say you’re wrong/To get it right all the time/Means it’s over.” (AP)