Artist:     Son Volt

Album:     Union

Label:     Transmit Sound/Thirty Tigers

Release Date:     3.29.19

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Jay Farrar’s latest state of the Union address covers miles and miles of socio-political ground. Once again assuming the role of earnest folk-rock troubadour with his band Son Volt, Farrar’s world-weary ruminations on the issues of the day come into sharp focus on the band’s ninth album, a humble song factory of lucid storytelling and realistic imagery that produces earthy, well-articulated Americana with true character, grit and substance.

Never stagnant, with its unhurried ebbs and flows, Union is serious protest music with shards of pop light peeking through the clouds, as an effervescent “Devil May Care” revels in the detailed artistry and joy of music-making. Every piece of gear mentioned here matters to Farrar. Even more memorable is the yearning opener “While Rome Burns,” as Farrar sings of how “the freeways lead to the gravel roads, to the town squares and the rodeos” in a river of organ and guitar sounds, sermonizing on the communal and complementary aspects of rural and city life like a modern-day Woodie Guthrie.

More barbed political commentary is found in the somber “Reality Winner,” a graceful dirge and moving defense of the whistleblower imprisoned for exposing Russia’s influence on the American electoral process. Evoking the passion of Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane,” it’s pulled along by a stately undercurrent of patriotism and sincerity, while “The 99” dramatically and defiantly rises up from rusted-out industrial ghettos to pound the pulpit about the destructive nature of greed. And it all ends with “The Symbol,” an elegant and affecting story of a good, hard-working family of DREAMers ripped apart by the current administration’s draconian immigration policies. Devastating and emotionally draining, it is evidence that resistance is not futile.

Once the heart and soul of alternative-country trailblazers Uncle Tupelo, Farrar rekindles his relationship with acoustic guitar on Union. Leaning heavily on the subtle interplay of multi-instrumentalist Mark Spencer, bassist/backing vocalist Andrew DuPlantis, guitarist Chris Frame and percussionist Mark Patterson for support, Farrar leavens his hard truth with messages of hope and resilience, themes lifted and carried by the rapturous piano of “Holding Your Own” and “Slow Burn.” Farrar has rarely formed a more perfect Union.

—Peter Lindblad