Wilco | photo by Annabel Mehran | courtesy of the artist
Wilco announce new album Ode to Joy and share first single
Three years after the release of their tenth album, Wilco are finally ready to present their eleventh. The Schmilco follow up is titled Ode to Joy and is set to be released October 4 via Wilco’s own dBpm Records. In addition to announcing the album, the band has shared its first single, “Love is Everywhere (Beware)”. Both the single and the album detail the band’s reckoning with the current political climate and the act of finding joy within it.
“Love is Everywhere (Beware)” is a bright and upbeat first taste of the record. The guitar-driven song explores how communities centered on love offer both joy and threats. Like on the rest of the album, the instrumentation is minimal but the emotion is bold and proud. With it, Wilco challenges listeners to wear their hearts on their sleeves and recognize when others do the same.
On the single, Jeff Tweedy said the following in a press release:
“There MUST be more love than hate. Right?! I’m not always positive we can be so sure. In any case, I’m starting to feel like being confident in that equation isn’t always the best motivation for me to be my best self – it can kind of let me off the hook a little bit when I think I should be striving to contribute more love outside of my comfortable sphere of family and friends.
So… I guess the song is sort of a warning to myself that YES, Love IS EVERYWHERE, but also BEWARE! I can’t let that feeling absolve me of my duty to create more.”
Ode to Joy celebrates love through its big folk songs and their march-like drums. The album is meant to soundtrack the delicate, yet powerful feelings that arise in times of conflict and struggle. Wherever your joy and love comes from, whether it be from a guitar solo or the likes on your Instagram, Wilco wants you to treasure it.
Listen to “Love is Everywhere (Beware) below.