Patchwork
Jesse Welles
Patchwork is Jesse Welles's second album under his own name, released on September 20, 2024 — following just two months after his debut Hells Welles dropped on July 4th of that year. Where Hells Welles arrived as a burst of sardonic, politically charged energy that sometimes felt more like a compiled collection of viral social media songs than a cohesive record, Patchwork represented a deliberate tightening and deepening of Welles's craft. Recorded entirely in his room in Ozark, Arkansas using a Shure SM57 and SM7B into Logic — vocals and guitar tracked live — the album is a back-to-basics acoustic folk effort that trades some of the earlier record's caustic immediacy for greater intimacy and vulnerability. Armed with his guitar, harmonica, and what Demo Magazine describes as "a husky, sweetly sandpapery voice," Welles places himself squarely in the tradition of the perceptive American folk storyteller — the comparisons to Dylan, John Prine, and Woody Guthrie feel both inevitable and earned.
The album opens with the softly reflective "New Moon," easing the listener in through nature-imbued imagery before moving into more upbeat and sardonic territory with "That Can't Be Right" — which KCOU notes is reminiscent of Hells Welles's caustic tone, with a harmonica added for good measure. "See Arkansaw" offers a chilling, plainspoken tour of Welles's home state, touching on poverty, the opioid crisis, nuclear infrastructure, and the fragile grip of religion on it all. "Fear Is the Mind Killer," alluding to Frank Herbert's Dune, is more pensive and inward-looking. The album's undisputed standout is "Walmart," a witty and sharply observed birds-eye-view of American consumer culture that KCOU called "undoubtedly one of the best tracks off the album, if not Welles' entire discography thus far." The record also includes "This Is Not My Song," a cover from his earlier band Dead Indian that Welles makes entirely his own, and closes with the gentle, self-aware "If I Died," which tips its hat to John Prine with quiet affection.
Patchwork
Jesse Welles
Patchwork is Jesse Welles's second album under his own name, released on September 20, 2024 — following just two months after his debut Hells Welles dropped on July 4th of that year. Where Hells Welles arrived as a burst of sardonic, politically charged energy that sometimes felt more like a compiled collection of viral social media songs than a cohesive record, Patchwork represented a deliberate tightening and deepening of Welles's craft. Recorded entirely in his room in Ozark, Arkansas using a Shure SM57 and SM7B into Logic — vocals and guitar tracked live — the album is a back-to-basics acoustic folk effort that trades some of the earlier record's caustic immediacy for greater intimacy and vulnerability. Armed with his guitar, harmonica, and what Demo Magazine describes as "a husky, sweetly sandpapery voice," Welles places himself squarely in the tradition of the perceptive American folk storyteller — the comparisons to Dylan, John Prine, and Woody Guthrie feel both inevitable and earned.
The album opens with the softly reflective "New Moon," easing the listener in through nature-imbued imagery before moving into more upbeat and sardonic territory with "That Can't Be Right" — which KCOU notes is reminiscent of Hells Welles's caustic tone, with a harmonica added for good measure. "See Arkansaw" offers a chilling, plainspoken tour of Welles's home state, touching on poverty, the opioid crisis, nuclear infrastructure, and the fragile grip of religion on it all. "Fear Is the Mind Killer," alluding to Frank Herbert's Dune, is more pensive and inward-looking. The album's undisputed standout is "Walmart," a witty and sharply observed birds-eye-view of American consumer culture that KCOU called "undoubtedly one of the best tracks off the album, if not Welles' entire discography thus far." The record also includes "This Is Not My Song," a cover from his earlier band Dead Indian that Welles makes entirely his own, and closes with the gentle, self-aware "If I Died," which tips its hat to John Prine with quiet affection.