Tag: anxiety

I found Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit  through my husband, as I find lyrics important, also the tone of his phone speaks to me, this band is one of my new favorite finds.

I myself am not prone to depression, but I know several people close to me who have been effected by it and this song speaks to me in that way. Worth a listen. One of my favorite songs from them is is cover me up.

Whereas his most recent records have been credited to Isbell alone, this latest effort has his longtime crew, the 400 Unit, front and center, not only on the album cover, but throughout the proceedings. Shires (Isbell married singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires),also makes her contributions known, particularly on “Anxiety,” a composition that addresses the effects of mental illness. This rare co-writing situation was something Isbell felt necessary to capture the nuances of this malady, particularly how people suffering from it also have to grapple with other people’s perceptions of what they’re going through.

“I don’t have a clinically diagnosed anxiety issue or these sort of crippling attacks where I can’t function,” Isbell says. “But I did want to cover that and represent that aspect of things in the song. So I went to my wife, who has more experience with that kind of stuff, and we co-wrote that song. I wanted to be specific and describe people’s experiences when they have these sort of moments where they’re disconnected from reality and things get overwhelming. So I went to her about that.”

Michael Jason Isbell is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007.

Isbell has spoken about the importance of his northern Alabama roots: “I definitely don’t feel like I would be the musician that I am, or the type of songwriter, had I not come from that particular place,” he says now. “The soul music that came out of there, and a lot of the soul-influenced rock and roll and country music that came out of the studios in north Alabama in the 1960s and 1970s had a big influence on me.” Isbell said that working at FAME Studios was “everything” to him, that it was “a gateway towards the music that he wanted to play”. In addition to citing Neil Young as a big influence, Isbell is a fan of singer-songwriter Ben Howard and guitarist Blake Mills.