The gorgeous title track would not have existed were it not for his work with the Dixie Chicks, but Wilson keeps everything universal by never veering into country-pop full-on, usually just lacing slide-guitars within conventional pop structures. Often armed with just an acoustic guitar, Wilson crafts a lush, laid-back singer-songwriter album that caters to all his potential demographics. One of these “others” was the Dixie Chicks, and “Not Ready to Make Nice” - a song they co-wrote with Wilson - wound up garnering multiple wins at the 2007 Grammy Awards, and suddenly it appeared that Wilson wouldn’t have to live on “Closing Time” residual paychecks much longer.įree Life comes fresh off of some stellar production stints (see: Mike Doughty and Rachael Yamagata), yet sounds remarkably sedated. Following the pre-millennial demise of that group, frontman Dan Wilson soon set up camp under the wing of Rick Rubin, gradually crafting his solo album while lending his songwriting abilities to others. Of course, bands don’t live on one hit alone. Songs like “Singing in My Sleep”, “Secret Smile”, “F.N.T.”, “Delicious” and “Chemistry” showcased a band with finely tuned pop sensibilities, capable of creating three-minute bursts of joy without batting an eye. It’s a sad thing, too, as Semisonic were a flat-out phenomenal pop band. When history looks back on Semisonic, the only thing that will be remembered will be “Closing Time”, one of the less-annoying alt-pop monoliths of the late 90s.