This is a breakthrough album for Isbell who landed in top 10 in several genres as well as received critical acclaim. It has several strong songs and Isbell is an excellent writer. I've had 2 songs from this album on or near my top 20 for the year BUUUUUUUUT frankly as much as I liked the album I felt Southeastern (his previous album) was much better. Isbell is a different man on this album, as he's conquered alcohol demons reportedly and recently re-married (Amanda Shires who he tours with). He is in a place of contentment and I applaud the man but contentment often breeds safety and this album as a whole is a little too safe despite the technical excellence. A song like Cover Me Up on Southeastern is a perfect example, not a traditional love song but one with some danger and strong passion, there is some rawness in it's beauty. The producer of Southeastern Dave Cobb gave some insight into how he helped Isbell get that edge-
" He encouraged Isbell to record his vocals in one take: "I think the big difference is that during the process we kept a lot of live vocal takes and I’ve not done that in the past. I was sort of terrified, really. Before, we’d spend a couple days at the end of the sessions tuning everything. Dave Cobb really encouraged me to sing with the live tracks while we were recording it."
Also on Southeastern Isbell wrote about some tough subjects- cancer in "Elephant", sexual abuse in "Yvette". These are strong powerful songs with a personal stamp. I compare that to a song on Something More than Free- "Children of Children" which focuses on teen pregnancy. This song just doesn't feel right, like an After School Special it touches on a topic but not from a personal point of view more from someone who saw a commercial and sent a check.
I'm not suggesting Mr. Isbell start drinking and get divorced, being a happy person is cool with me and I still love his music, I am saying he's approaching a point in his career where things will influence his work whether that be his frame of mind or success in a industry that values vanilla will force some choices. Darrell Porter was a former catcher of the Royals a fall down drunk but had his best baseball seasons right in the middle of those days. He cleaned up, he was still good enough to be a major league baseball player and played for a WS winner in St. Louis sober but his performance deteriorated. Darrell Porter had a better life but likely sacrificed one aspect of it that gave him a fearless edge. The pros far outnumber the cons in making that life change but it is what it is.
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