REVIEW: Foxes In The Snow — Jason Isbell

Solo acoustic documents divorce and new love.

Let me start out by saying I’m not a big fan of popular country music.

I think most of it is cookie-cutter bullshit with lyrics that all seem to be combined with the same starter pack of refrigerator word magnets.

It’s all driving my daddy’s [insert pickup type] drinkin’ [beer/liquor brand] to get my girl in her [cutoffs, sundress, cowboy hat] to make love in [truck bed, barn in rain, tall grass] and the end.

Don’t get me wrong most pop music is no better. But, so much of the country stuff rings even more manufactured to me. And musically too. Especially the hip-hop infused stuff, most of which feels like it was concocted in a Nashville board room.

One of the artists I do like — in fact have grown to love — is Jason Isbell. I think he’s one of the best writer’s out there and I found a real connection between his writing style and Bruce Springsteen. While there have always been exceptions, both excel at short story songs — with sparse but very evocative lyrics. Isbell is kind of a southern, more modern Springsteen.

Isbell’s new album comes after his late 2023 split with Amanda Shires a noted musician in her own right and a fiddle player and close collaborator with her husband and his band the 400 Unit for years. The struggles in their marriage were obvious in the documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed which chronicled his last (and fantastic) albumWeathervanes.

There’s no doubt that the new LP Foxes In The Snow could easily be called The Divorce Album with a few caveats There’s a real bitterness in some, but most seem wistful of the failed relationship and weary of the divorce that wasn’t finalized until 2025. “Gravelweed” is a good example:

I was a gravelweed and I needed you to raise me
I'm sorry the day came when I felt like I was raised
And now that I live to see my melodies betray me
I'm sorry the love songs all mean different things today

I wish that I could be angry
I wish I didn't understand
I said your skin was like water
And let you flow right through my hands

Is there a love that's not crazy?
Is there a life that's not a lie?
All I know is that I had to go
You know why, why, why

It’s ironic that Isbell has followed a similar path as Springsteen. His Tunnel Of Love in 1987 was a stark writing departure documenting the demise of his own marriage and hinting at the new romance with his background singer Patti Scialfa — who he is still married to.

In that same vein — but even more prominent than Springsteen and Scialfa — the non-divorce songs document the beginning of his new relationship with Canadian painter Anna Weyant. It doesn’t seem like every song is about love lost or found, but most are, and they are both revealing and (unsurprisingly) very well-written.

Isbell is a good guitarist — and he’s got enough stylish tricks up his picking sleeve that the album seems quite varied and never monotonous. Would I like it more if was a full band exercise? Yes. You can literally feel points where the band might come in and raise the drama. But, that’s fine. This was obviously a cathartic experience for Isbell that he wanted to do on his own.

He’s also been touring near non-stop since Weathervanes came out in 2023 and recorded it in five days at the famous Electric Ladyland Studios in NYC. My lovely wife (no divorces here) got us tickets to see him in a few weeks at the gorgeous Fox Theater.

I see a playlist coming in the future which will likely hit some of the highlights of his career. In the meantime, check out Foxes In The Snow: