Reunions

Seven albums on, Isbell’s achieved a rarified status, one that indulges a need for creativity as well as contemplation. Reunions reminds us that it’s the rare artist that succeeds at both.

Whether he's musing insightfully over alcoholism or parenthood, his band are blazing and Isbell takes a tired format and charges it up with passion and perceptiveness. [Jul 2020, p.88]

With Reunions, Isbell unites the disparate aspects of his craft — soothing acoustic and fiercely electric; Hemingway's word economy dashed with Oscar Wilde-worthy asides, relatable details and otherworldly allusions. ... For listeners immersed in similar bittersweet nuances on a daily basis, there's no better musical accompaniment than Isbell's latest.

His songs remain deeply personal, revisiting his drinking days and happy to be done with them in “It Gets Easier” and paying tribute to his wife, Amanda’s natural mothering instincts in “Letting You Go” yet there is not a song as impactful as “Cover Me Up” or “Elephant.” Nonetheless, his material is consistently strong enough to merit the four-bagger. Yes, four in a row equals a grand slam.

With its acute portraits of a troubled and tangled life, Reunions is ultimately a story of redemption through fatherhood and self knowledge, epic country-soul opener What've I Done To Help setting the mood perfectly. [Jun 2020, p.95]

At 41 minutes, this album covers every type of song Isbell does best; from tight rockers to disappointed country tunes, Reunions hits the spot.

His best impulses he keeps channeling into his music, on seven albums and counting, and the result is a body of work that often feels indispensable. Isbell is a songwriter’s songwriter, but the songs that result are for all of us.

His candor can sometimes obscure this essential fact, but his forthrightness underscores the emotional clarity of Reunions.

Overall, Reunions doesn't quite achieve the heights of Southeastern or The Nashville Sound, but that's only because Isbell has set the bar so damn high for himself. This is an excellent album in its own right.

He's still more traditionalist than outlier, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. [Jul 2020, p.19]

Isbell kicks up dust by looking backwards, and Reunions is at its best when he’s doing just that.

With a blend of fact and fiction, Isbell has created his own Nebraska and secured his place among the greats of country-rock.

From exquisitely tender, elegaic ballad Only Children (“‘Heaven’s wasted on the dead’ is what your mama said / When the hearse was idling in the parking lot”) to self-questioning anthem What I’ve Done To Help, Isbell and his band are firing on all cylinders. Honestly, if you like this kind of thing, the guitar sounds and solos on burning rocker Overseas are worth the price of entry alone.

A typically assured piece of work. [Jun 2020, p.30]