Drive-By Truckers

This prelude to the Truckers' forthcoming Brighter than Creation's Dark proves that sometimes over-thinking is a good thing. Again blurring the lines between art and life, they've explored their own annus terribilis that culminated in guitarist Jason Isbell leaving the band, while his wife Shonna Tucker not only stayed, but penned two songs, including the sparse, haunting "Purgatory Line," included here. Raging with uncertainty about faith, celebrity and fate, these tunes provide a compelling, sometimes messy travelogue in and out of the band's own heart of darkness.