He’s always known his way around a story-song. But after Jason Isbell returned from working with Martin Scorsese as an actor on the “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas” auteur’s upcoming film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Isbell had new energy for making his new album “Weathervanes.”

“It definitely helped when I got into the studio,” Isbell says in a press release. “I had this reinvigorated sense of collaboration. You can have an idea and you can execute it and not compromise — and still listen to the other people in the room.”

“Weathervanes,” released June 9, finds Isbell, a former Muscle Shoals and Green Hill resident, hitting a new peak, eight solo albums in. The album’s vocals, music and production equal his always razor-sharp lyrics. It’s the kind of recording that hits that rare intersection of art and commerce that makes big acts huge. I’m placing an early bet “Weathervanes” finally lands Isbell on the cover of Rolling Stone.

A Nashville area for a while now, Isbell’s written several songs about rock bands, being in a band and/or watching a rock band’s gig. His classic early solo cut “Codeine” laments “this cover band trying to fake their way through ‘Castles Made of Sand’.” Other songs that fall into this category include “To a Band That I Loved” from 2015 LP “Something More Than Free.” Off the new album, the lyrics to “When We Were Close” sound like they’re about Isbell’s friend and former Drive-By Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood.

For Isbell’s fans in his native Alabama, another “Weathervanes” story song about rock-band life is prickling ears and raising eyebrows. The 10th track on the album’s a country-rocker titled “Vestavia Hills,” a reference to the Birmingham-area city. In addition to Isbell on vocals and slide guitar, the track features Isbell’s longtime backing band The 400 Unit – drummer Chad Gamble, bassist Jimbo Hart, keyboardist Derry deBorja and guitarist Sadler Vaden. You can listen to “Vestavia Hills” and read the song’s lyrics below.

“Vestavia Hills” lyrics by Jason Isbell

You’re working too hard

or you’re living too fast

Hands over your eyes with a foot on the gas

and the best I can tell

the crowd seems ashamed

It sounds like a warning when they call out your name

The boy genius is grown now

The competition got fierce

and you’d rather be anywhere other than here

But it can get so much worse

and I reckon it will

in Vestavia Hills

Last night was a long one

You made a lot of new friends

and your band was on fire right up til the end

You met a girl from the suburbs

but you missed all the cues

I bet you don’t remember me tying your shoes

The boy genius is grown now

and you’re an angry young man

Well I won’t be around when you die in the van

I’ve got kids of my own

and not much of a will

in Vestavia Hills

This run is my last one

I got to get off the road

Got to get my mind back in the family mode

I wish you the best son

I’ve seen worse do alright

You’re at war with your heart and you’re too weak to fight

The boy genius is grown now

Your dreams all came true

Now you’re left with nothing but damage to do

Well I’ve got dreams of my own

and my wife pays the bills

in Vestavia Hills

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