Jesse Welles - Middle

 

Jesse Walles — Middle

2025 album from the Nashville singer-songwriter addresses broader themes 

Rising folksinger Jesse Welles had arguably the most packed set of the weekend at the 2025 Newport Folk Festival. Welles TikTok-era sing-the-headlines approach made him one of the year's fan favorites, proclaimed Rolling Stone. There's nothing "middle" about Welles: He's unflinchingly addressed hot-button topics such as the war in Gaza, capitalism, and the U.S. healthcare system.

His 2025 album Middle is less concerned about tackling the news, and more interested in zooming out to address more broad, and more difficult subjects like God, war, and religion. Middle proves that Jesse Welles isn't just a one-trick pony. He's an artist who could be a defining performer of our time. 

Welles' new single "Wheel," from Middle, is a flat-out, feel-good rocker, encouraging his listeners to "enjoy the ride." His topical edge still imbuse much of the album material — Welles calls the music on the album "self-indulgent" songs. 

The Nashville transplant grew up in Ozark, Arkansas, a town with a population of 3,590 that boasts a turkey plant, an engine plant, one or two gas stations, and a couple of restaurants. From those humble beginnings and dropping out of the music scene when released from his label during the pandemic, Welles has amassed tens of millions of streams and prestigious acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and more. Welles is heavily influenced by ‘70s singer-songwriters who rocked as well — Dylan, Petty, Neil Young; a bit odd considering that he has mostly a young following. However, it makes more sense with the success of Dylan's biopic, A Complete Unknown, which has been popular across generations.

The album opener and single "Horses," which Welles calls a pro-love song, features subtle references to U.S. foreign policy ("all my flannel's made in Bangladesh/all my t-shirts in Vietnam/there are places that we quietly ignore/there are places that we go and bomb"). Still, the emphasis is in the final line where he's just railing against hate, equating it to whipping a mule. The thumping "Certain" is an upbeat ode to self-awareness in an increasingly hate-filled world, complete with a Dylan-like harmonica.

It is difficult to impossible to be accused of falling into hyperbole when trying to articulate the creative explosion that Welles has been riding upon for going on a year. A pioneer of what could be called "fast folk" where he synthesizes current events in real time into incredibly clever, complex, and insightful songs, he makes wickedly entertaining music while somehow overriding the political and cultural binary that so many musicians, pundits, and the public itself have fallen prey to.

"I'm proud to be part of a growing culture. Of using your art to speak. It ain't always like that. It ain't always been that way. It comes and goes. You know, history rhymes and all that stuff. And there's slow periods and there's dead periods and stuff like that. But I feel like now more than ever in my lifetime, artists are really using their art to say a thing about what's going on around them, not necessarily about themselves. And I'm proud to be a part of that culture. And that's what I'm proud of for 2025." — Jesse Welles

 

 

 

Side A

1. Horses

2. Certain

3. I'm Sorry

4. Fear is the Mind Killer

5. Wheel

6. Anything But Me

Side B

1. Every Grain of Sand

2. Simple Gifts

3. Why Don't You Love Me

4. Rocket Man

5. War is a God

6. Middle

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