Cruel Country–Wilco’s universally-acclaimed 12th studio album was released on vinyl via dBpm Records and Alternative Distribution Alliance on January 20, 2023. The double-disc packages are comprised of 21 Country Music inspired tracks, recorded at the band’s Chicago studio, The Loft. Originally released digitally in May 2022 and in a limited “pre-release” CD edition for the June 2022 RSD drop, lead tracks “Falling Apart (Right Now)” and “Tired Of Taking It Out On You” have already become staples on non-commercial, public and AAA radio. Cruel Country songs and graphics have been featured throughout the band’s June European tour and August/September/October North American tour. A new music video for “A Lifetime To Find” will be released in conjunction with the pre-order announcement.

Bandleader Jeff Tweedy has commented a length on the concept and recording process of Cruel Country in numerous podcasts, online interviews and print articles: “There have been elements of Country Music in everything we’ve ever done. We’ve never been particularly comfortable with accepting that definition, the idea that I was making Country Music. But now, having been around the block a few times, we’re finding it exhilarating to free ourselves within the form, and embrace the simple limitation of calling the music we’re making Country.”

Jon Pareles in The New York Times wrote: “Wilco makes an understated magnum opus. Its tone is naturalistic and understated; the album was recorded largely with Wilco playing live in the studio as a six-man band, quietly savoring the chance to make music together after pandemic isolation.”

Cruel Country is available on Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Red & White Colored Vinyl and Standard Black Vinyl.

Preorders placed for local pickup are available now.

Full Length Vinyl 1

Side A

01 I Am My Mother

02 Cruel Country

03 Hints

04 Ambulance

05 The Empty Condor

06 Tonight's the Day

Side B

01 All Across the World

02 Darkness is Cheap

03 Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull

04 Tired of Taking It Out On You

05 The Universe

Full Length Vinyl 2

Side A

01 Many Worlds

02 Hearts Hard to Find

03 Falling Apart (Right Now)

04 Please Be Wrong

05 Story to Tell

Side B

01 A Lifetime to Find

02 Country Song Upside-down

03 Mystery Binds

04 Sad Kind of Way

05 The Plains