Something More Than Free
The former Drive-By Trucker delivers his most diverse album yet in *Something More Than Free*, a beautifully observed and finely conceived collection of windswept rock that finds the singer/songwriter exploring questions of place and identity. While “Speed Trap Town” perfectly captures the feeling of growing up in rural America, “24 Frames” ponders faith and family—all with the lyrical acuity of Townes Van Zandt and the melodic aplomb of Tom Petty.
Something More Than Free is Jason Isbell's sparest record yet, and feels noncommittal: not quite folk, not quite country, definitely not rock. Isbell's lyrics keeps thorny issues at arm's length, and Free sounds nondescript and—worse—placeless as a result.
Like the spectacular Southeastern, Jason Isbell’s follow-up, Something More Than Free, is an album about roots and identity, about the struggles that define a person. But now, instead of darkness or pain, Isbell doesn’t have to look hard to find the small, everyday rewarding aspects of life.
Though Jason Isbell has been releasing albums since he was part of the Drive-By Truckers lineup that made 2003’s Decoration…
Check out our album review of Jason Isbell's 'Something More Than Free' on Rolling Stone.com.
Ever since his astonishing debut with the Drive-By Truckers in the early 2000s, we've been watching Jason Isbell. Here was a kid from a tiny...
Considering the pitiful state of arena country, Jason Isbell is a damn messiah. Something More Than Free demonstrates Isbell's songwriting prowess and the honed power of his band, The 400 Unit.
The album retains Southeastern’s intimate acoustic-based feel and heavyhearted lyrical matter.
Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free review: And somehow you put down my fears on a page when I still had nothing to say.
The best country music and Americana albums of 2015, chosen by Culture Editor Martin Chilton unless stated.
How to follow up a masterpiece by Americana's finest songwriter. Review by Lisa-Marie Ferla