Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit’s ‘Weathervanes’ Among New Albums Released Today

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Janelle Monáe, Jenny Lewis and My Morning Jacket. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Weathervanes

Weathervanes is the new Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit album out today on Southeastern Records/Thirty Tigers. Singer-songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell produced the 13 tracks making up his eighth solo studio album. Matt Pence provided additional production on five songs. Recording sessions were held at Blackbird Studio in Nashville. Joining Isbell in the studio were his The 400 Unit bandmates, keyboardist Derry deBorja, drummer Chad Gamble, bassist Jimbo Hart and guitarist Sadler Vaden, and Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires, who contributed fiddle and background vocals. Other participants included Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Sylvia Massy & Ian Rickard (background vocals) and Morgan O’Shaughnessey (strings). Regarding the follow-up to 2020’s Reunions, Isbell stated:

“There is something about boundaries on this record. As you mature, you still attempt to keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re growing into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”

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Janelle Monáe – The Age Of Pleasure

Singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe enters The Age Of Pleasure with today’s release of her new album. Out now on Atlantic Records, the 14-track album is Monáe’s first since 2018’s Dirty Computer. Produced by Nate “Rocket” Wonder, The Age Of Pleasure sees Monáe accompanied by a number of special guests, including Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Grace Jones, Amaarae, Sister Nancy, Doechii, Ckay and Nia Long. Monae previewed the album with the singles “Float” and “Lipstick Lover.” The new release sees Monáe further evolving past the futuristic android character that was prevalent in her prior three albums.

“I think being an artist gets lonely,” Monáe told Rolling Stone. “Most people don’t understand what’s going on in my brain. Community has been so helpful to me; it’s beautiful that I have a title called The Age Of Pleasure because it actually re-centers me. It’s not about an album anymore. I’ve changed my whole fucking lifestyle.”

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Jenny Lewis – Joy’All

After a four year wait, singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis is back with her first-full length album since 2019, Joy’All. Released by Blue Note/Capitol Records, Joy’All was produced by Dave Cobb and recorded at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. The sessions included drummer Nate Smith, bassist Brian Allen, Cobb on guitar and Lewis on acoustic guitar and vocals. Additional tracking was done by Lucius’ vocalist Jess Wolfe, along with Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and B-Bender guitar and Jon Brion on Chamberlin. Some of the material on Joy’All dates back to On The Line. Lewis shared the following in regards to her process:

“I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic… and then put them aside as the world shut down, and then from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual songwriting workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck. The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was ‘Puppy and a Truck.’”

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Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental

Singer-songwriter Jess Williamson, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Marfa, Texas, today released her third studio album Time Ain’t Accidental through Mexican Summer. The new release follows last year’s Plains collaboration with Waxahatchee‘s Katie Crutchfield that yielded the album, I Walked With You A Ways, and Williamson’s two prio releases, 2018’s Cosmic Wink and 2020’s Sorceress, both of which came out on Mexican Summer. Following a breakup and start of new relationship, Williamson began recording demos for what would become Time Ain’t Accidental, using an iPhone beat machine app that ended up included on the final tracks. Producer/multi-instrumentalist Brad Cook, who produced the Plains record, teamed up with Williamson for recording sessions in Durham, North Carolina. Brad’s brother and fellow multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook was among the group of ace musicians backing Williamson. The Mountain Goats saxophonist Matt Douglas and Bon Iver drummer Matt McCaughan, as well as sacred steel guitarist Deshawn Hickman can also be heard on Time Ain’t Accidental.

“Being in lockdown alone, fresh out of a breakup, was a real hard time for me,” Williamson said. “What I’m grateful for is having a period of stillness and desperation that forced me to turn inward and find comfort in a power greater than myself.”

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My Morning Jacket – MMJ Live Vol. 3: Bonnaroo 2004 (Return to Thunderdome)

On June 12, 2004 My Morning Jacket began their set on the Which Stage at the third installment of Bonnaroo to humid and sunny weather yet dark clouds could be seen on the horizon. Thunderstorms enveloped the Manchester, Tennessee festival towards the middle of the performance but both band and attendees rose to the occasion. The legendary 12-song set is out today as MMJ Live Vol. 3: Bonnaroo 2004 (Return to Thunderdome), the latest installment of Jacket’s live archival series. Highlights include “One Big Holiday,” “Golden,” “Dancefloors” and “Steam Engine.” Frontman Jim James remembered the epic performance, stating:

“It seems like only yesterday we were playing in the hot n’ sweaty rain-soaked Thunderdome down at the ol roo…but WOW it’s been nearly 20 years! We are so excited to revisit and share this pivotal moment for the band and beautiful moment in time with the universe with you all again!”

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Compiled by Scott Bernstein and Andy Kahn.