Jason isbell told Rolling Stone that his new song “24 Frames†“…kind of sounds like the way indie rock sounded when I was 15.”
Isbell was 15 in 1994, a year when grunge and post-punk reigned. Though the keen melodic sensibility that echoed through the airwaves then has always been part of Isbell’s toolkit “24 Frames†also owes much to his Southern heritage. The tight-but-loose pop jangle is reminiscent of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and the wail of the slide has melancholy shades of Duane Allman.
But the songwriting is pure Isbell. He has a way of making the common moments exquisite.
“This is how you make yourself vanish into nothing; And this is how you make yourself worthy of the love she gave to you back when you didn’t own a beautiful thing.”
But all is not rosy and Isbell shows in the refrain, accompanied by Amanda Shires’ understated harmony, that plans are for fools.
“You thought God was an architect; now you know, He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow.”
Harkening it’s cinematic reference “24 Frames†is a sonic diorama of the human condition packed into 3:13.
Beautiful in it’s brevity.
’24 Frames’ can be found on ‘Something More Than Free,’ out 7/17. Pre-order it and get ’24 Frames’ as an immeadiate download.