Jeff Tweedy Strips Down Wilco Classics on ‘Together at Last’

Wilco has always been two bands in one, half noise savant provocateurs and half winsome twang troubadours. But right before they released 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky,” Jeff Tweedy lamented, “I got nervous about the technology on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. If you need a certain amp or pedal to make a song what it is, it isn’t a song.” Accordingly, “Sky Blue Sky” sounded like six guys plugging in and jamming in a basement, a mellow comedown following the decadent electronic sorcery of 2004’s “A Ghost Is Born.” The repentant sentiments didn’t last long, however, as their subsequent albums immediately returned to the yin and yang approach that vacillated between folksy simplicity and psychedelic grandeur.

So it’s a little surprising that 10 years after the above quote, Jeff Tweedy has finally shed almost all technology to bring us the stripped-down and laid-back “Together at Last.” Armed with nothing but his acoustic guitar, his smoky croon and a boatload of wordplay, Tweedy gives listeners up-close-and-personal versions of Wilco favorites and a couple deep cuts from his various side projects. No longer shrouded in a dense thicket of circuitry or awash in guitar overdubs, his ditties are as immediate and gorgeous as if the man himself were playing them in your living room. And, at its best, the results can be just as powerful as that sounds.

There are some very obvious choices present, with the plucked out melodies of “Via Chicago” and “Ashes of American Flags” benefiting the most from the fireside treatment of “Together at Last.” But Tweedy isn’t afraid to dust off some forgotten gems here or there: his delicate and dynamic finger-picking arrangement on “Muzzle of Bees” absolutely shines when freed from the artsy pretense of guitar feedback that made the original “A Ghost Is Born” version feel like a misfire. He even gets a little obscure, reaching into his side project bag of tricks to dig out Loose Fur’s “Laminated Cat” and Golden Smog’s “Lost Love,” finding the tender acoustic soul at the center of both tracks.

Everything hums along quite smoothly until he starts adding in overdubs on “In a Future Age” and “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” Of course, they’re his songs, and he’s well within his rights to arrange them anyway he chooses, but it does feel like he loses the plot momentarily here by veering from his stated intention. And it seems like he misses a chance to bring the plainspoken honesty to these tracks that he finds on other overdub soaked classics like “I’m Always in Love.”

There is also the feeling that Tweedy misses an opportunity to revisit Uncle Tupelo classics like “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” “Acuff-Rose,” or “New Madrid.” It’s especially strange to leave his largest treasure trove of gems untouched considering that he’s recently and regularly performed them as part of his solo sets during Tweedy concerts. Presumably, recording them is a different animal altogether, since he shares writing credits on many Uncle Tupelo tracks with former bandmates Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn. Animosities likely haven’t cooled, and giving them a slice of the royalties from this very personal passion project would still be smart.

Though, nitpicking what isn’t on “Together at Last” completely ignores all the great material that is here. Besides, it never claims to be an exhaustive, career-spanning, greatest hits record. It is Tweedy rediscovering the songs at the center of his experiments over the past two decades, which is why many of the weirder originals make for the most powerful cuts on the album. “Together at Last” is the perfect title for this calm and contemplative assortment of oddities and favorites, as Tweedy removes the layers of makeup to display the inner beauty of his songs. In the process, he offers listeners the most direct path to fall in love with his tunes and the next best thing to seeing one of his acoustic solo sets.

Together at Last is available June 23 on Apple Music.