Have you seen Running With Our Eyes Closed, the new HBO documentary on HBO? It’s really good! The doc follows Isbell and his band the 400 Unit as they work on their last album, 2020’s Reunions, and it gets deep into the granular work of making music. There’s a great scene where Isbell and Amanda Shires intensely debate certain grammatical choices. When you’ve seen the movie, a new Jason Isbell song hits just a tiny bit different, since you have a better idea what went into making it.

In June, Jason Isbell and his 400 Unit will follow Reunions with their new album Weathervanes, and we’ve already posted the early singles “Death Wish” and “Middle Of The Morning.” Today, they’ve shared a relatively quiet, extremely pretty new song called “Cast Iron Skillet.” The song opens with Isbell offering some practical advice: “Don’t wash the cast iron skillet/ Don’t drink and drive, you’ll spill it.” Then he gets into the storytelling.

On “Cast Iron Skillet,” Jason Isbell lays out a couple of quick, economical, evocative character sketches — a childhood friend who died in prison after stabbing someone to death, a father who stopped talking to his daughter after she started dating a Black man. It’s heavy stuff, written beautifully. Listen below.

Weathervanes is out 6/9 via Southeastern/Thirty Tigers. Also, Isbell is selling actual cast iron skillets.