For all the adversity Wolf Jett has faced, they have earned the right to musically brood in their new releases. No one would blame them for putting out dark, moody jams that might make us listeners count our blessings and consider how lucky we are. When a 2020 wildfire wiped out the band’s newly minted studio and many of their instruments, they could have called it quits. But, nope, not Wolf Jett. Following the band’s 2024 release, Time Will Finally Come, a record that dazzled this reviewer with its musical depth born of a beautifully swampy melange of Country, Rock, and Blues, a fitting follow-up was going to be tough. Enter, though, 2026’s aptly titled Letting Go.
While Time provided nothing within its grooves that spoke overtly of defeat by adversity, there were themes of perseverance, rising from the ashes, and the palpable sound of a band dusting itself off and moving past trauma. Letting Go stands solidly as the next step in the healing process. We hear victory, happiness, and elation – a collective breath for a band back on the road to achieving their dreams. The lead-off track, “In a Good Place Again,” says everything we need to know in the title alone. It speaks to that beautiful realization of, “Boom! Look at that! We’re on the other side of all of this.” As far as how to listen to this record? It’s hard to consider a better way to consume it other than dreamily driving down a country road, windows down, and stereo blaring. You can almost smell the honeysuckle and wisteria-scented spring air that is so typical of this band’s Santa Cruz Mountains home.
Case in point? “Straight Back Home”. The funked-up bass and cowbell-punctuated rhythm immediately demands we nod our heads in time. This is a road song about driving – just driving and digging on the journey just as much as the destination. That beautiful moment when everything on your drive is clicking and you’re suddenly completely present and in the moment, laughing at the perfection and digging the synchronicity of it all. The tune will no doubt become an anchor on many a road trip playlist this summer.
As always, the songs are pushed down this aural highway by the pulsing rhythm section of Jon Payne and Duncan Shipton (drums and bass, respectively). Dancing above the low end are the wizard-level guitar lines and bourbon-soaked vocals of Chris Jones. Jones, a native Tennessean, consistently delivers Blues vocals and leads that could find themselves at home in a Mississippi juke joint just as easily as some saloon in Boulder Creek, California.
Perhaps Wolf Jett’s best secret weapon is its female vocalist. Laura T. Lewis has a fantastic song titled “Letting Go.” “Be Still” has that ethereal AM radio aesthetic, reminiscent of what Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers achieved before the band’s end nearly a decade ago. And that is where Wolf Jett’s strength really lies. They operate as the sum of their parts. Each member contributes something to the whole, and that whole crackles with creativity, energy, and largely exudes the positivity of looking down the road for what comes next, and whatever that may be, it is going to be good, and we’ll be along for the ride.
Wolf Jett begins a California tour on March 28th with their album release party at Felton Music Hall.
