Draussen im Dunkeln

Im Wartezimmer meiner Zahnärztin habe ich diese fünf Songs zusammengestellt, ohne sie zu hören oder zu kennen (bis auf die Lieder von Jeff und Jonathan), also rein intuitiv, und nach der Lektüre kurzer oder längerer Besprechungen, zumeist aus der neuen Ausgabe von „Uncut“. Irgendwo in meinem Archiv schlummert ein tolles Album von Brigitte Fontaine – ich bin sehr gespannt auf diese Ausgrabung von „WeWantSounds“.

„Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue French pop icon Brigitte Fontaine’s landmark 1968 albumBrigitte Fontaine Est Folle, originally released on the cult label Saravah and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier. This special 2-LP edition, approved by the artist, features the original album, newly remastered from the original tapes, along with a second LP of demos, instrumentals, and a live rendition of „Il Pleut“ recorded for France Inter/ORTF. The release also includes a 20-page bilingual booklet with introductions by journalist Jeremy Allen and Stereolab‘s  Laetitia Sadier, essays by Brigitte Fontaine’s biographer Benoît Mouchart and Benjamin Barouh, plus full lyrics and rare archival photos.“

“Future Tree“

„The Dog Star“

“Out In The Dark“

“Il Pleut“

“Everybody‘s Heart“

It was novelist and critic John Berger who first posited that “calm is a form of resistance”. Who knows if Jeff Tweedy was channelling that sentiment while creating the gentle behemoth that is Twilight Override, but he has certainly responded to the maelstrom of paranoia and inhumanity unleashed by the second Trump term – what the Wilco frontman has dubbed “a bottomless basket of rock bottom” – with disarming composure, and a big batch of tunes for his fifth solo outing. 

Twilight Override is a 30-song triple album of mostly mellow consolation, insightful rather than intimidating. In the studio performance video for “Feel Free” – one of four tracks released in advance of the album – there is a glimpse of a sign on the wall of Wilco’s Chicago studio, The Loft, saying: ‘It Could Be Worse’. The song itself is a seven-minute invitation to shut out the white noise and slow down, to lay down anger and concerns, “To fall in love with the people you know and fall harder for the people you don’t”.

(Fiona Shephard, Uncut, November 2025)