Jason Isbell Releases “24 Frames” From Upcoming “Something More Than Free” Album
July 17th can’t get here quick enough for fans of the highly-decorated songwriter and Americana star Jason Isbell. That’s the day his much-anticipated release Something More Than Free hits stores—the followup to his heavily-decorated album Southeastern from 2013.
Isbell has just made the new album available for pre-order, and has also released the first single from the album called “24 Frames.” The Alabama native is known for keeping new material pretty close to the vest until it’s ready to be released, but “24 Frames” is one of the few new songs Isbell has been playing on his recent tour. The songwriter has been saying that the new album is more positive than Southeastern, which was one serious emotional gut punch after another, and you can hear this evidenced in “24 Frames.”
Making reference to the per-second frame rate of movie film, “24 Frames” is a reflective song that speaks to Isbell’s combined roots of Southern rock and indie rock, and showcases how he marries his compositional style with songwriting. The track was produced by Dave Cobb.
Jason Isbell has seen a busy few weeks. On Friday, April 24th he was part of Letterman’s run of farewell shows when he performed Warren Zevon’s “Mutineer” with wife Amanda Shires from their recent 2-song release. Then three days later he was back in Nashville performing with Ryan Adams at the Ryman Auditorium. It’s also been announced that Isbell’s 4-night residency at the Country Music Mother Church in October is sold out. Isebll was also given a boost last week by having a song released by Zac Brown Band on their latest record Jekyll + Hyde.
There’s plenty of momentum behind Isbell as the release on one of the year’s most anticipated Americana albums nears.
May 3, 2015 @ 5:47 pm
Outstanding. Going to see him in 2 weeks, cannot wait.
May 3, 2015 @ 8:46 pm
Excellent song. And same here. Where are you seeing him perform? I will be at the Wilmington show.
May 3, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
What’s he doing releasing songs? Get back to practice, Stafford!
May 4, 2015 @ 3:16 am
Lmao
May 3, 2015 @ 6:32 pm
Great song. Not that you would expect much else from Isbell. I’m not sure which album I am more excited about, this one, Chris Stapleton’s or the new Whitey Morgan album. Either way music fans who prefer their music without dumb, repetitive lyrics and EDM beats are in for a treat over the next few months.
May 3, 2015 @ 8:49 pm
Just in case you didn’t know NPR has a first listen still going of Stapletons album and its amazing. They also just added one for the Emmylou and Rodney Crowell album that I haven’t listened to the full way through yet. Go check it out.
May 3, 2015 @ 9:08 pm
That’s really exciting that they have Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell’s up. I’m going to listen right now. Thanks.
May 3, 2015 @ 6:33 pm
This is absolutely incredible.
May 3, 2015 @ 6:47 pm
Impressive. This is a good year for country music. Chris Stapleton’s new album is fantastic, this should be good, Lindi Ortega will have one out in August and possibly Sturgill.
May 3, 2015 @ 7:47 pm
Absolutely. If Sturgill releases an album, knocks it out of the park and hits #1 then that could literally be the modern day “Red Headed Stranger” we’ve been looking for.
May 4, 2015 @ 5:48 am
We also should have a new Jamey Johnson album at some point this year. I havent been blown away by either single released so far, but I still have faith it should be a very good album. The Turnpike Troubadours should also be releasing something before the end of the year. 2015 is shaping up to be a very good year of REAL music releases.
May 3, 2015 @ 7:09 pm
Would I be overstating how good Isbell is by saying that I’ve always thought he is my generations shot at Neil Young?
May 3, 2015 @ 8:09 pm
This is gonna be tough, but I’m not listening until I have the whole album to listen to.
May 3, 2015 @ 8:19 pm
I’m with you Sam. I only listened to it once quickly through to make sure it was worthy of posting, but that’s why I didn’t do a review for it. Better to wait and hear it in the context of the album in my opinion, but I know a lot of folks would be eager to hear it, and I wanted to get the pre-order link out there.
May 3, 2015 @ 8:16 pm
Outstanding song! I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album. Isbell is great! Very excited to hear about the new Lindi Ortega album as well. She’s got a single out called Tell It Like It Is. Excellent song as well, as I would expect from her. Another song everyone should check out is the new cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Steal Your Heart Away by the Watkins Family Hour. They have an album coming in July I believe. I’m looking forward to that one as well.
May 3, 2015 @ 8:26 pm
This song is everything we could want it to be–catchy, well-written, countless hooks in the lyrics, and it sounds nothing like Southeastern. Too many artists try to recapture their greatest work and it just doesn’t happen. I hope we hear more somber Jason Isbell in the future, but this is just fine, too.
May 3, 2015 @ 9:15 pm
He is one damn-good songwriter….
May 4, 2015 @ 11:53 am
solid lyric …fresh , inventive , arresting
May 3, 2015 @ 9:31 pm
Good lyrics, as is to be expected from a great lyricist like Jason Isbell. However, the music sounds rather flat to me. He should stick with country instead of going the soft rock route.
May 4, 2015 @ 8:16 am
Has Isbell every really had a “country” sound? His sound has always leaned WAY closer to this style of production than anything remotely resembling Country. He has always had a heavy Southern Rock/Americana/Adult Alternative sound than anything resembling Country.
I can understand the production not being to your liking, it’s not my favorite either, but I’m not sure moving it closer to Country is something we really have ever seen from Isbell.
May 4, 2015 @ 9:01 am
Exactly. The closest he has come to an overtly country song is Cigarettes and Wine from the Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit album and even he calls that one a “country song, sorta” on his live album.
This song didn’t bowl me over on first listen, but then again, my expectation level is pretty high after Southeastern. Could be a grower or it might be more enjoyable within the context of the whole album. I don’t think I’ll listen to it again until the album comes out.
May 4, 2015 @ 9:55 am
I think Jason Isbell fits the undefined definition of “Americana” as anyone. What makes him country is that he writes songs that leave listeners with a lasting impact.
May 4, 2015 @ 12:10 pm
Tour of Duty?
May 4, 2015 @ 10:18 am
Yeah he’s not really country. Although, I do think some of his slower stuff gets close to ” real ” country. At the same time, he’s more country than anything on country radio IMO. Part of me wishes he was labeled under country on places like iTunes just because it was sit at number 1 probably for a good amount of time.
May 4, 2015 @ 12:58 pm
I would argue that this song is quite country, as were several others on “Southeastern”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74S1dtoqAD0
May 4, 2015 @ 11:54 am
Agreed -generic musically , no dynamic …guitar -heavy …very 80’s Petty …
May 4, 2015 @ 12:57 pm
80s Petty could sometimes sound great, due to the strong melody and instrumentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtLpZWNyM0I
Isbell’s song here just doesn’t have the melodic variation or the instrumental diversity. The sonic style reminds me of Zac Brown’s “Homegrown”, to use a recent example.
May 9, 2015 @ 5:51 pm
Yeah, Tom Petty is the man, so that’s really not a critique of any artist.
May 3, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
I saw Isbell (and Amanda Shires) perform last night at the 62nd Jimmie Rodgers Festival in Meridian, Mississippi. It was an incredible show.
May 4, 2015 @ 3:23 am
Cannot wait for this album, I’m definitely gonna be pre-ordering it. Southeastern was an album where when I first heard it it blew me away, but then I actually “listened” to it, and read some of the lyrics to his songs that I couldn’t quite understand and it was an absolute gut punch (in a good way). I think a great song writer will make you do that, and I have the same expectations for his upcoming album.
May 4, 2015 @ 6:25 am
So pumped. I love Isbell.
May 4, 2015 @ 6:42 am
My buddy made mention that he’d released something early from the July album. So awesome. Seeing him Friday night – my son is 5 mos old and it’ll be his first show – Father of the Year right here!
May 7, 2015 @ 8:53 pm
Isbell didn’t waste a single syllable in that tune…great song…there is an economy to the lyric and the production at work here that seems to be going unappreciated by some of the commenters…this is not a hit record and it’s not a country song…but it has a breezy quality that belies some pretty heavy imagery….”you thought God was an architect,now you know. He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow”…I like it fine…
The band is sounding super tight live(saw them in Columbia,SC last month) and they seem to get tighter each time I see them…I told my wife that going to see them now has graduated from seeing a really whip smart rock n roll band to witnessing an EVENT….the show is just that good….to say that I’m eagerly anticipating this record would be understating the case.