JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In the early days of the pandemic, Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy was on a road trip with his sons, Spencer and Sammy. They were driving from Chicago to New York to retrieve Sammy's things when it became clear that in-person college wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
JEFF TWEEDY: And during that drive, we listened to "Sandinista!" in its entirety.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN")
THE CLASH: (Singing) Ring, ring. It's 7 a.m. Move yourself to go again.
TWEEDY: I'd had that record - The Clash, you know, "Sandinista!" - since I was a kid. And I think there's one maybe very long section of the record that is another song played backwards.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE CLASH SONG, "MENSFORTH HILL")
TWEEDY: I think at the time, that was one of the ideas of if it's a triple record, is you could experiment and just get as weird as you wanted to be.
SUMMERS: Tweedy says the inspiration for his new solo project, the 30-song triple album "Twilight Override," came from that long car ride listen.
TWEEDY: And just kind of questioning why records have to be predominantly one shape.
SUMMERS: Thematically, "Twilight Override" examines the pandemic-related trauma Tweedy says we're all still dealing with.
TWEEDY: I think we lived through something extraordinarily stressful together. We don't talk about it a whole lot. And instead of it bringing us together, it was divided into two separate realities and contested.
SUMMERS: But the project is also about an optimism somewhere on the horizon.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWILIGHT OVERRIDE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) My mind is moving fast, faster than my stash can last.
There's a song called "Twilight Override," but the lyrics in the song actually have a reverse syntax. It says...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWILIGHT OVERRIDE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Override...
Override twilight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWILIGHT OVERRIDE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) ...Twilight.
I think at some point, I was just like, what am I trying to override? And twilight is such a beautiful word. It came into my mind probably because of that, because it's just a lovely word. But then, you know, it stuck because it had such a resonance with a lot of the things going on, this sense that if we're not a part of an empire that's dying, we're at least a part of a period where a lot of people feel that way. But it's also - there's a glimmer of hope in it because where that place where light and dark meets is beautiful.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWILIGHT OVERRIDE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) My mind is moving fast, faster than my stash can last. I'd love a quiet day.
It seemed like a title big enough to contain 30 songs.
SUMMERS: I mean, Jeff, this album feels so intimate. As a listener, you're sort of immediately transported to being in that space with you and all of your collaborators. And I know that you mentioned that across the records there was a lot of group singing around one microphone, as well as choral singing. Is there a track you'd point to where that shows up here?
TWEEDY: I think you can hear it most on something like "Blank Baby."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLANK BABY")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Blank baby. Blank baby.
I just love singing with my kids. I love singing with Macie and Sima and Liam. There are groups of family harmonies in there, and then, you know, just a really intimate - it's just an intimate sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLANK BABY")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Blank baby. Blank baby. Blank...
SUMMERS: I want to ask you about the song "Lou Reed Was My Babysitter," which I know some longtime fans may already be familiar with. If I remember right, this is a song that you brought to the band, but ultimately it wasn't the right fit?
TWEEDY: Yeah, I think it - with Wilco, that song was around for different sessions, maybe as far back as "Cruel Country." You know, I don't mention Lou Reed in it. But it's about the things that I always hated about going to see bands and realizing that I missed them (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOU REED WAS MY BABYSITTER")
TWEEDY: (Singing) I want you to dance into me, spill my drink. I want to feel the kick kicking in my teeth. My bleeding heart bleeding to the beat.
About standing in an audience and being bumped into and having smoke blown in your eyes. All the - you know, all the different things. I think the title really comes from the sensibility of the song would absolutely not be there if I wasn't entertained and consoled and kept company by Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, my record collection, rock and roll.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOU REED WAS MY BABYSITTER")
TWEEDY: (Singing) The dead don't die. The dead don't die. The dead don't die. The dead don't die. Woo.
It's just an ode to - or an appreciation of how wonderfully human and beautiful that all is.
(SOUNDBITE OF JEFF TWEEDY SONG, "FEEL FREE")
SUMMERS: I want to ask you about one more song if I can, and it's the song "Feel Free."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEEL FREE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Feel free. Get on the floor and dream.
SUMMERS: Can you tell us a bit about it?
TWEEDY: That phrase is a little bit of a Rorschach test, you know? You could hear it and think, oh, it's dismissive. Oh, if you want to do that, you know, it's your life. You know, feel free.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEEL FREE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Feel free. Hail Satan. Doesn't matter to me. Or you can be the devil every Halloween.
And it also could be sort of directive. If you can think freely, if you can - or not think at all in a freeing manner, that's good (laughter), you know? You should do that. I wanted to collect as many things like that and put them in this song. And then I also wanted to collect things that I don't agree with and put them in the song, but with the understanding, or at least the attempt to understand, that it's someone else's approach to feeling like they matter and they belong and they're part of something.
SUMMERS: Jeff, you have so many die-hard fans. I wonder, as you're making music now, to what degree are you thinking about how to draw in new audiences, perhaps even younger audiences, who aren't familiar with your solo work or even with Wilco?
TWEEDY: It's a hard question to answer because to me, the music I've made in my life seems to be multigenerational in its appreciation now. I do see families, I do see very young kids at our shows and when Wilco goes on tour. I just think I'm reaching out to make some connection. And the people you end up making connection with, I think, are the people that kind of get it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEEL FREE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Feel free. Let it be or let it bleed.
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Jeff Tweedy. His new triple album is "Twilight Override." Jeff, thank you so much.
TWEEDY: Thank you. Nice talking to you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEEL FREE")
TWEEDY: (Singing) Feel free. Feel free. Think of your name on a marquee. Aim for something you can't see. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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