It's a huge day for the Wilco extended universe. Jeff Tweedy just announced a goddamn triple-album, and now comes news of the first Autumn Defense LP in over a decade.
The Autumn Defense, as real Wilco heads know, is the pairing of Wilco members John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. They've been doing this band together since 1999, well before Sansone joined Wilco. I gave them my band's crappy demo CD at an in-store performance in Columbus back in 2004(?), and they were gracious enough not to throw it in the trash in front of me. This thing has been a going concern for ages. But it's been 11 years since the last Autumn Defense album, the aptly named Fifth. Stirratt and Sansone are finally ending that drought this fall, and they even got their picture taken by Wilco bandmate Mikael Jorgensen for the occasion.
In October, the Autumn Defense's new album Here And Nowhere will come out on Yep Roc. They're also going on tour. The plaintive Sansone-penned opening track and lead single "The Ones" is out now. He calls it "a meditation on impermanence, and wrestling with the loss of people and things that have been meaningful in a life. Musically, the song takes inspiration from some songs that were popular on the radio in my childhood, in which now I recognize a certain eeriness or disquiet. I thought this musical backdrop fit well with the theme of the fading of a familiar world."
Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "The Ones"
02 "I’ll Take You Out Of Your Mind"
03 "Old Hearts"
04 "Winter Shore"
05 "In The Beginning"
06 "Hearts Arrive"
07 "Underneath The Rollers"
08 "More Than I Can Say"
09 "Love Lives"
10 "Raven Of The Wood"
11 "Ever Flowing Light"
TOUR DATES:
10/24 - Vienna, VA @ Barns at Wolftrap
10/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
10/26 - Freehold, NJ @ Concert in the Studio
10/28 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse
10/29 - Boston, MA @ Arts at the Armory
10/30 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/07 - Memphis, TN @ Green Room
11/08 - Nashville, TN @ 5 Spot
11/09 - Atlanta, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
12/07 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Lodge Room
Here And Nowhere is out 10/10 via Yep Roc. Pre-order it here.
