Patterson Hood

Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood returns with Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, his fourth solo album and first in over 12 years. A deeply personal collection, the record revisits Hood’s youth and early adulthood, exploring memories from childhood to his departure from rural Alabama in pursuit of music. The songs, gathered over years—some written during lockdown, others long tucked away—form a baroque American song cycle unlike anything in Hood’s catalogue.

“These kinds of unintended themes just emerged,” says Hood. “It wasn’t planned—it just came together that way.”

Since his last solo release, 2012’s Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance, Hood had accumulated a body of material that didn’t quite fit the Truckers’ mold. During the 2020 lockdown, he began demoing songs in his Portland, OR attic, not knowing it would spark a full album. Longtime friend Chris Funk (The Decemberists) signed on as producer, and in 2023 they finally carved out time to record, aiming for a sound distinct from Hood’s previous work.

Hood leaned into piano-based writing and, pushed by Funk, performed many parts himself. The album ventures beyond Drive-By Truckers’ guitar-driven style, embracing strings, woodwinds, and analog synths. “There’s really not a lot of guitar,” Hood notes. “It was freeing.”

Guest musicians include Katie Crutchfield, Kevin Morby, Wednesday, members of Los Lobos, Megafaun, The Decemberists, and Hood’s Truckers bandmates. Despite its wide-ranging textures, everything centers around the songs.

Chronologically backward, the album begins with “The Exploding Trees,” based on a natural disaster in Hood’s hometown. With literary depth and sonic clarity, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams delves into the murky truths of memory. Hood strips away nostalgia to confront past darkness, continuing his lifelong pursuit of truth through music.

“There are a lot of happy accidents in this record,” he reflects.