Jason Isbell has always been upfront about his sobriety. It’s been eight years since he put down the bottle, and he’s found even more to say about the ongoing battle. With “It Gets Easier,” from the new record Reunions, he confronts the reality: “It gets easier, but it never gets easy,” he sings.
Guitars clang against one another, as drums rumbling like a tractor’s engine. His voice totters between resilience and the cold, hard truth that alcohol will always be a devil on his back (even as a mere shadow).
If you’ve been privy to his songwriting chops to-date, you won’t be surprised when he unpacks such punches left and right in the song. “Last night I dreamed that I’d been drinking / Cold burn of whiskey down my throat / My hand turned into a rattlesnake / And I laughed myself awake / And that’s how I knew it was a joke.”
Just let that sink in.
Listen to “It Gets Easier” below.