Foxes in the Snow
Released in the wake of his divorce from singer-songwriter Amanda Shires, 2025’s *Foxes in the Snow* is Jason Isbell’s first solo acoustic album, and his first album without The 400 Unit since his 2013 breakthrough *Southeastern*. But don’t let the context color things too much: Isbell’s best writing has a scythelike quality whether backed by a band or not, and relationships born, broken, salvaged, and mourned have been subject matter for him from the get. The lovelorn will no doubt revel in the agony and catharsis of “Eileen,” “Gravelweed,” and “True Believer” (“All your girlfriends say I broke your fucking heart, and I don’t like it”), but allow us to direct you instead to the folksy, John Prine-like wisdom of “Don’t Be Tough”: “Don’t be shitty to the waiter/He’s had a harder day than you,” and, later, “Don’t say ‘love’ unless you mean it/But don’t say ‘sorry’ ’less you’re wrong.” Anyone can cradle their ego, but it takes a gentleman to know when to put it to bed.
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Earnest and quietly distraught, Jason Isbell’s ‘Foxes in the Snow’ is the musician’s most starkly realized effort to date.
Given Jason Isbell's track record as a songwriter, it's no surprise that a completely stripped-down album turns out to be one of his best.
Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell album review by Greg Walker for Northern Transmissions, the artist's LP is now out via Southeastern Records
Jason Isbell - Foxes in the Snow review: The love songs all mean different things today
Small stories, big talent from the Alabaman storyteller extraordinaire. New music review by Joe Muggs