Jason Isbell Makes Amends With Dan Wilson, Joins Semisonic On New Single ‘Out Of The Dirt’

In 2012, Jason Isbell accused Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson and country singer Dierks Bentley with “ripping off” his song “In A Razor Town” with Bentley’s hit “Home.” Isbell recanted his “ripping off” accusation in 2017, calling it “my mistake,” and now he has contributed to Semisonic’s latest single, “Out Of The Dirt.”

“I was really bummed Jason thought we plagiarized him,” Wilson told the Star Tribune in 2017, prompting Isbell’s apology. “I think we might’ve plagiarized the same old folk songs that Jason also plagiarized. If you think about all the songs that have similar melodies, it would be a very big list. I had never listened to Jason at that time, and I’m pretty sure my collaborators had never listened to him, either. It really tainted my ability to appreciate Jason Isbell for quite a while, which was also a drag, because I was really into his next couple albums.”

“Dan Wilson’s a good writer, and I no longer feel like anybody was ripping me off with the song ‘Home,’” Isbell wrote in response, adding, “My mistake.”

Wilson and Semisonic will release their long-awaited new album entitled Little Bit Of Sun on November 3. The album marks the Minneapolis-based band’s first full-length in over two decades.

In addition to Isbell’s guitar on “Out Of The Dirt,” the upcoming follow-up to 2001’s All About Chemistry features My Morning Jacket’s Jim James who played guitar a song he co-wrote, “Beautiful Sky.” Co-written by Wilson and Lori McKenna, the former described the writing and recording process for “Out Of The Dirt”:

“I wrote ‘Out of the Dirt’ with the amazing Lori McKenna. I told Lori I was hoping to make something with a stomping beat and a hypnotic, mesmerizing lyrical chant. The result was even more stomping and mesmeric than I had hoped. The track is pretty simple, just me on the piano, John on fretless bass and Jake on drums. As we were cutting the track, everyone agreed it needed some hot lead guitar. But instead of adding a guitar of my own later, we reached out to Jason Isbell to see if he wanted to throw down. The answer was yes (what a day!) and the results speak for themselves: Jason fucking rocks, as we already knew.”

Stream Semisonic’s new single “Out Of The Dirt” featuring Jason Isbell below: