Jason Isbell’s skills as a songwriter have never been in doubt. His songs “Outfit” and “Danko/Manuel” rank as some of best his former band, the Drive-By Truckers, ever did. And his track “Alabama Pines” from his last studio record was awarded Song of the Year at the Americana Honors Awards. On his latest disc, he ups the ante. The songs here are full of rough times and misunderstandings, but portrayed in a way far beyond cliché. The characters and sentiments reveal depth and complexity with great turns of phrase. There is the woman dying of cancer who is “cross-legged on a barstool like nobody sits anymore” in the song “Elephant” and a lament about the girl “stripping Portland since the day you turned 16/you got one thing to sell: Benzodiazepine.” The characters portrayed are not always admirable, but Isbell manages to portray them as with empathy. None of the songs have easy resolutions, and Isbell’s singing, sometimes relaxed and sometimes strained as if he’s deliberately singing higher than his range, adds to the emotion of the songs. There is a mainly folky groove to this singer-songwriter material, but it still has muscle in its sensitivity. And “Super 8 Motel,” a rock-and-roll tale in both sound and subject, may be the best song Ronnie Van Zant never wrote.