Jeff Tweedy has announced that his soundtrack for Chelsea Walls, Ethan Hawke’s 2001 directorial debut, will be reissued on January 14. The collection includes two previously unreleased songs from those recording sessions: a cover of Wilco’s “Promising” as sung by actor Robert Sean Leonard and an extended version of Tweedy and Glenn Kotche’s “Finale.” Check out a trailer for the reissue below.
Chelsea Walls follows five artists living in the legendary Chelsea Hotel in New York City. As a longtime fan of Wilco, Hawke asked Tweedy to score the film. The frontman accepted and reached out to Kotche to help write and record the project, which was largely improvised. Shortly afterwards, Kotche formally joined Wilco, making his first recorded appearance on their 2001 staple Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
This reissue marks the first time the soundtrack will be available on vinyl. In addition to Tweedy and Kotche’s score, the soundtrack also features music by Billy Bragg and Wilco, plus vocal contributions by cast members Leonard, Jimmy Scott, and Steve Zahn. Accompanying the release are new liner notes by Hawke and Kotche as well as a conversation between Tweedy and set producer Cheryl Pawelski.
Earlier this fall, Tweedy announced a deluxe edition of his 2020 LP Love Is the King and started a newsletter called Starship Casual. He also covered two Beatles songs with his Wilco bandmates.
