
The Autumn Defense, led by Wilco’s John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, return with Here And Nowhere, a lush, harmony-drenched album that finds beauty in impermanence and warmth in every melodic turn.
After a ten-year stretch that started as a short break and quietly stretched into a decade, the Autumn Defense return with Here And Nowhere — a warm, wistful collection that sounds like no time passed at all. The longtime partnership of John Stirratt and Pat Sansone (both of Wilco) picks up right where they left off, expanding their signature blend of sun-soaked Laurel Canyon pop with lush orchestration, psychedelic textures, and a deeper emotional reach.
Built around breezy melodies and layered harmonies, the album carries a gentle sense of gravity. “The Ones,” the lead single, glides along on a soft groove while unpacking impermanence and loss. “It’s a meditation on wrestling with the fading of a familiar world,” says Sansone. “There’s an eerie quality to the music I remember from childhood radio—songs that seemed simple until you really listened. That was the feeling I wanted.”
That balance, easy on the surface, unsettled underneath, runs throughout Here And Nowhere, recorded over two intuitive sessions at Nashville’s Creative Workshop and produced/mixed by Sansone. “Old Hearts” channels the bruised introspection of Fred Neil and Harry Nilsson, while “In the Beginning” floats in on a Tapestry-era Carole King breeze. “I’ll Take You Out Of Your Mind” and the CD bonus track “Raven Of The Wood” hint at Big Star’s broken glow. It’s music that sounds both classic and quietly haunted.
Since forming in New Orleans and releasing their 2001 debut The Green Hour, Stirratt and Sansone along with trusted rhythm section James Haggerty and Greg Wieczorek, have spent more than 20 years carving their own path. While often mislabeled as a Wilco side project, the Autumn Defense have always leaned more toward West Coast pop than alt-country. Their music draws frequent comparisons to the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and Love, with Rolling Stone calling it “gorgeous” and “delightful,” NPR praising their “timeless pop songs,” and The New York Times describing their delivery as “warm and radiant.”