A couple weekends back I had the privilege of seeing Jeff Tweedy perform a solo show in Columbus, an environment where the Wilco mastermind’s incomparable craft and incredulous banter truly shined. I just about cried when he performed “Jesus, Etc.” with the whole room gently singing along. I just about cried laughing when he roasted a quasi-heckler in the audience whose participation in that singalong had been a bit overzealous. It was everything you want out of a solo show from one of your favorite songwriters.

Ostensibly the tour was promoting WARM, the solo album Tweedy released last fall on the heels of his must-read memoir. But during the show he began talking about a second solo album called WARMER coming out in April, which he originally wanted to call Open Kimono (inspired a spicy anecdote you’ll have to ask him about sometime).

As someone who generally doesn’t care about Record Store Day, I’d missed the news that Tweedy was releasing a WARM companion LP for the occasion, complete with 10 brand new songs written and recorded during the same burst of inspiration. Maybe you, my RSD-disregarding peers, were also unaware that this album was coming. But it’s true: WARMER is out this weekend, and the songs Tweedy previewed from it two Sundays ago were on par with WARM highlights like “I Know What It’s Like.”

Today he’s revealed the full details of the release. The album’s initial run is limited to 5,000 physical LPs released for Record Store Day this Saturday. Lead single “Family Ghost” arrives this morning with a video by Mark Greenberg. A press release bills the song as “a reflection on the difficulty of understanding and eliminating the types of casual and systemic racism pervasive in Jeff’s southern Illinois upbringing.” In his typically cryptic but evocative style, Tweedy sings, “Spray paint me gold, pull my face up to the blinds/ I’m a family ghost you’ll never leave behind.”

Here’s Tweedy on the origin of WARM and WARMER:

At some point I separated the songs from the WARM/WARMER session into two records with individual character, but still tried to keep the overall tone and texture of the combined session consistent. In a lot of ways these two records could have been released as a double LP. WARMER means as much to me as WARM and might just as easily have been released as the first record of the pair.

Watch the “Family Ghost” video below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Orphan”
02 “Family Ghost”
03 “And Then You Cut It In Half”
04 “Ten Sentences”
05 “Sick Server”
06 “Empty Head”
07 “Landscape”
08 “Ultra Orange Room”
09 “Evergreen”
10 “Guaranteed”

WARMER is out 4/13 via dBpm Records. If you want a copy, get thee to your local independent record shop this Saturday and bathe your efforts in prayer.

CREDIT: Zoran Orlic