The Whole Love is Wilco's eighth studio album and the first full-length release on their own, dBpm Records. Recorded at The Loft in Chicago, The Whole Love boasts 12 new originals. Produced by Jeff Tweedy with Patrick Sansone and Tom Schick. Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway.
Like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, The Whole Love is the work of a band that's stylistically up for anything, from the edgy dissonance of "The Art of Almost" and the moody contemplation of "Black Moon," to the ragged but spirited pop of "I Might" and the cocky rock & roll strut of "Standing O," but more so than anything the band has done since Being There, The Whole Love sounds like Wilco are having fun with their musical shape-shifting.
Even somber numbers like "Rising Red Lung" have a heart and soul that's warm and compelling, and these musicians consistently hit their targets both as individuals and as an ensemble; Mikael Jorgensen’s keyboards bring a playful whimsy to songs that could sometimes use it, the guitar interplay between Tweedy, Nels Cline, and Pat Sansone never stops bubbling with great ideas, and bassist John Stirratt and drummer Glenn Kotche hold down the rhythm with equal parts of imagination and precision. With The Whole Love, Wilco has made an album where the whole is as strong as the individual parts: the musicians play off one another with the intuition and understanding that separates a real band rather than folks who simply work together, and the songs cohere into a whole that's rich, intelligent, and often genuinely moving.
Quite simply, this is the work of a great band at the peak of their powers, and the Whole Love is a joy to hear, revealing more with each listen and confirming once again that Wilco is as good a band as America can claim in the 21st century.
A1 - Art of Almost
A2 - I Might
A3 - Sunloathe
B1 - Dawned on Me
B2 - Black Moon
B3 - Born Alone
B4 - Open Mind
C1 - Whole Love
C2 - Capital City
C3 - Standing O
C4 - Rising Red Lung
D1 - One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) (Long Version)
D2 - Sometimes It Happens
