For those unaware, the same year of his Oscar®-nominated performance in Training Day, Ethan Hawke made his full-length film directorial debut with Chelsea Walls, starring Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Robert Sean Leonard. Around this time, Tweedy had collaborated with musician and producer Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth, Stereolab) for a special live performance. As fate would have it, O’Rourke had been working with Glenn Kotche, and O’Rourke introducing Tweedy to Kotche would lay the groundwork for the trio’s work together on the debut album by their band, Loose Fur. Wilco was in the process of a creative sea change, the result of which would be the modern-day masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Kotche joined Wilco and O’Rourke mixed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

The soundtrack to Chelsea Walls featured improvised instrumentals by Tweedy and Kotche, as well as vocal performances by Leonard (whom Hawke met when they both worked on the film Dead Poet’s Society), Steve Zahn (Reality Bites, That Thing You Do!), jazz legend “Little” Jimmy Scott, plus contributions from Billy Bragg, and Wilco themselves.

1. Opening Titles - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
2. Red Elevator - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
3. Promising - (Wilco)
4. Frank’s Dream - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche
5. When The Roses Bloom Again - (Billy Bragg & Wilco)
6. Jealous Guy - (Jimmy Scott)
7. The Wallman - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
8. The Lonely 1 - (Robert Sean Leonard & Steve Zahn)
9. Hello, Are You There? - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
10. Softly And Tenderly Jesus Is Calling - (Robert Sean Leonard)
11. Finale - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
12. End Credits - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
13. Finale (Extended) [Bonus Track] - (Jeff Tweedy & Glenn Kotche)
14. Promising [Bonus Track] - (Robert Sean Leonard)

This captivating soundtrack opens on the eerie, guitar jangling, ebb and flow of Opening Titles and then gives more of the same, albeit on a layered beat for the pulsating Red Elevator before launching into lonesome, countrified ode Promising (Wilco), the ornately sculptured Frank’s Dream, the gentle hipsway of When The Roses Bloom Again (Billy Bragg & Wilco), and then comes Jimmy Scott’s quietly tapered rendition of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy and the sterner fare of The Wallman.

Next up on this deliciously atmospheric album is The Lonely 1 (Robert Sean Leonard & Steve Zahn) and the delicate, harmonica-driven Hello, Are You There? and they are in turn followed by the aptly-titled Softly And Tenderly Jesus Is Calling (Robert Sean Leonard), the album soundtrack rounding out on the crystalline Finale, the troubadour-esque vibe of the End Credits, now coming to a close on Finale (Extended) and the remote flashback storytelling of Promising from Robert Sean Leonard.

Two decades later, this influential soundtrack returns, not only with two previously unissued bonus tracks, but for the first time as a double-vinyl LP, including an online exclusive colored vinyl variant.

Bonus tracks include Leonard’s performance of Wilco’s Promising previously only available in the film, and an extended version of Tweedy and Kotche’s Finale.

The packaging contains new photos, new and original liners from Hawke, a remembrance from Kotche, and an interview between Tweedy and Grammy®-winning set producer Cheryl Pawelski.

Street date for this set is January 14th, 2022 on Omnivore Recordings.

Chelsea Walls is a pivotal piece in the creative development of Tweedy and Wilco as they became one of the most important bands of our time.

Critically, it revisits the creative burst that would lead to one of the first true rock masterpieces of the 21st century in Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Official Purchase Link

Chelsea Walls - Official Album Trailer