Wilco – Hot Sun Cool Shroud Music CD

Review

If you haven't noticed that Jeff Tweedy's been on a tear recently, then, well, Jeff Tweedy's been on a tear recently. We've gotten several Wilco albums, solo releases, books, even exclusives through his Substack newsletter. So it's not a huge surprise that more Wilco is ready for us in 2024. Hot Sun Cool Shroud is a rare EP offering from the Chicago crew, presenting six new songs that Tweedy started during the Cousin sessions and came back to finish.

What's probably most interesting here is a little nugget of a song that could be seen as a throw-away. The second track, "Livid," is a one-minute-and-ten second instrumental that sounds like guitarist Nels Cline shredding as hard as possible amongst some well-placed laser sounds. (Yes, if you want to make a "Heavy Metal Drummer" reference, then now could be the time).

Opener "Hot Sun" falls into the more traditional Wilco camp, with Tweedy leaning into his usual dead-pan delivery while waxing poetic about the decaying world and glass in his ice. "Annihilation" sounds like it could fit easily into the 1996 Being There universe—it's a poppy, acoustic number with Tweedy expressing a lovely sentiment about having a kiss before the world implodes. "Inside The Bell Bones" is another instrumental— not as hard as "Livid," but still an odd interlude that's more percussion-driven than everything else. And the closer, "Say You Love Me," is classic Wilco, boasting a Beatles-esque piano line that feels right at home as Tweedy emotes about love and final moments.

It's all to say that if you're already sold on Wilco, then you'll be sold on this, too.

— Mike Ayers, jambands.com

Product Details

Following Wilco’s acclaimed 2023 album Cousin, Wilco revisited unfinished material from these sessions to craft ‘Hot Sun Cool Shroud’. Collaborating again with engineering mixer Tom Schick, the band crafted six tracks that expand on the sound of Cousin. According to Jeff Tweedy, they have “a summertime-after-dark kind of feeling. It starts off pretty hot, like heat during the day, has some instrumentals on it that are a little agitated and uncomfortable, and ends with a cooling breeze.”