Hear Wilco Reminisce on Wistful New Song ‘If I Ever Was a Child’
Wilco find a poignant middle ground between melodic and melancholy on their new song “If I Ever Was a Child,” set to appear on their upcoming LP, Schmilco.
The country-tinged tune shuffles ahead with the stilted skip of Glenn Kotche’s drums as Jeff Tweedy sings achingly: “I never was alone/ Long enough to know/ If I ever was a child” over a mix of acoustic, electric and steel guitars.
“If I Ever Was a Child” follows the previously released track “Locator,” also from Schmilco, which is due out September 9th via Wilco‘s dBpm Records. Wilco said Schmilco features mostly acoustic songs and explores self-identity and public perceptions of the band. “I think this record is ‘joyously negative,'” said Tweedy. “It’s sad in a lot of ways but not in any that reach a conclusion of doom or hopelessness. I just had a lot of fun being sour about the things that upset me.”
Schmilco follows Wilco’s surprise 2015 album, Star Wars. At the time of that LP’s release, Tweedy told Rolling Stone that the band had also completed another album that was “very different” from Star Wars. “It was more that these songs sounded great in this sequence, and what I wanted to do was make sure that almost everything was over a certain beats per minute, for the most part,” Tweedy said.
Schmilco Track List
1. “Normal American Kids
2. “If I Ever Was a Child”
3. “Cry All Day”
4. “Common Sense”
5. “Nope”
6. “Someone to Lose”
7. “Happiness”
8. “Quarters”
9. “Locator”
10. “Shrug and Destroy”
11. “We Aren’t the World (Safety Girl)”
12. “Just Say Goodbye”