After almost 30 years in music with his bands Uncle Tupelo and Wilco – and work in genres from alt-country to electronic psychedelia – Jeff Tweedy has finally made his first solo album, with his 18-year-old son Spencer on drums. Conceived as a double album, there’s something of the sprawling majesty of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, while the mix of beauty and grit – and occasional glam-stomp – recalls early-70s John Lennon. Although the likes of Low Key are playfully autobiographical (“I’ve always been low key, you know me”), Sukierae is named after Tweedy’s wife, Sue (known as Sukie Rae), currently battling lymphoma. As the 20 songs unfold, they become ever more eerie, personal and devotional, delivering uncomfortably beautiful, inspiring home truths in spookily good melodies: “I want to watch you growing old and dumb. I want to see what you and I become.” Listening to all 72 minutes in one sitting requires commitment in itself, but the reward is a beguiling collection with unique emotional heft. Dave Simpson
