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Noah: Agreed -- if they don't go whole hog after the noise on The Whole Love, there is one very welcome change -- John Stirratt's bass is very present and VERY awesome. Even the quiet songs benefit greatly from Stirratt's work -- there's a little more urgency to them, something that I think was lacking a little on the last couple of Wilco albums.

Steve: The thing I like most about Wilco is how complex they can be under the guise of keeping it simple. Too many bands only know how to do one thing, or are afraid or incapable of getting down in the weeds and thinking about every aspect of the song production. Wilco seems to me to be one of those bands that can do everything well, and makes it work for them in the best possible way. Nothing seems tacked on or an afterthought. They make really thoughtful music and just when you're lulled into thinking a song is a certain thing they throw a twist at you. The title track - "The Whole Love" - is a simple folky tune at heart but there's a ton going on there.

Noah: That's a great point. They've gotten to a point where it would be easy to churn out inoffensive, moderately interesting albums that people would buy -- for all my small complaints about their last couple of albums, I'd still rather listen to them than almost anything else. But they're not going to do that, and if The Whole Love is the start of a new chapter of experimentation and boundary pushing, I welcome it.

I can't remember where I read the interview, but recently Tweedy mentioned that this was the first album that this "new" lineup of the band (on their third album together, longer than any other lineup in the band's history) had finally gotten comfortable together. What he was essentially saying is that the "new" guys were concerned about overstepping or screwing up the band and they'd finally gotten over that. I think the results are pretty clear.

Steve: If people knock SBS and Wilco (The Album) for being too tame, it could be what you have is the band getting used to each other, in some ways paving the way for The Whole Love. I reject that argument by the way. It's Pitchfork elitism at its worst to take something as nuanced as "Leave Me (Like You Found Me)" from Sky Blue Sky and dismissively label it Dad-rock. The last song on The Whole Love - "One Sunday Morning" - would fit right in on SBS. In fact, "One Sunday Morning" and "Art of Almost" make for fascinating bookends to The Whole Love. The same band is responsible for both...that's kind of mind blowing.

Noah: Absolutely, and that speaks to your earlier point about how they can do everything well and it's clearly thought out. There's no lack of texture or depth to this album.

Steve: Give me your thoughts on Tweedy's evolution as a singer. Probably my biggest problem with Being There - I like it, I don't love it - is his singing. In my view he's come a long way.

Noah: Explain.

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