Patterson Hood - Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (2025)

Patterson Hood developed such a strong lyrical and musical voice in his work with the Drive-By Truckers that it's surprising how much it differs from the tone and approach of his solo work. 2004's Killers and Stars and 2009's Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) were assembled from songs that clearly wouldn't fit the DBT's, both musically and thematically, and 2012's Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance was an ambitious effort to create a song cycle that existed in a separate (though not unrelated) musical universe from his band. Hood's fourth solo album, 2025's Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams, in many respects picks up where Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance left off. While Heat Lightning's songs were informed by an uncompleted novel he penned about the chaos of his life in the '90s, Exploding Trees looks back even further. Most of the tracks were inspired by memories from Hood's childhood, from his Godmother's ridiculously large car and the Christmas parties where he first learned to sneak drinks from the punchbowl to bittersweet recollections of his high school girlfriend and the ways his obsession with Walt Disney's Pinocchio would follow him into adulthood. These stories feel personal, almost confessional, in a way that's very different from Hood's storytelling in the DBT's, and the music is even more of a departure. Exploding Trees was produced by Chris Funk of the Decemberists, and the sound of the album is cooler and more self-consciously artful than Hood's previous solo work. Hood played piano rather than guitar on a number of tracks, and the sturdy, eloquent tone of his keyboard work gives the arrangements a reflective undertow that's a far cry from the DBT's enlightened Southern rock. The album also features an impressive team of guest stars, including Lydia Loveless, Wednesday, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee, and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and it's the most carefully crafted and cohesive solo effort Hood has released to date. It isn't quite the unexpected triumph that Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance was, but it confirms Patterson Hood is capable of more than he's created with the Drive-By Truckers, great as they are, and it's a pleasure to hear him challenge himself with such impressive results.

TRACKLIST

1. Patterson Hood - Exploding Trees
2. Patterson Hood;Lydia Loveless - A Werewolf And A Girl
3. Patterson Hood;Waxahatchee - The Forks of Cypress
4. Patterson Hood - Miss Coldiron's Oldsmobile
5. Patterson Hood - The Pool House
6. Patterson Hood;Wednesday - The Van Pelt Parties
7. Patterson Hood - Last Hope
8. Patterson Hood - At Safe Distance
9. Patterson Hood - Airplane Screams
10. Patterson Hood - Pinocchio