My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James issues his first proper solo album, Regions Of Light And Sound Of God, today on ATO Records. As MMJ has gotten stranger (in a good way) and has further veered off from their Southern Rock path, Jim James has set his sights on an even more intimate and experimental “futuristic-soul” sound on the album that he wrote, produced and played all himself at his home in Louisville.
The nine-track album opens with the piano-led “State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U.)” and its funk-rock rhythm and a syncopated vocal cadence on the chorus. Excellent first single, “Know Til Now” follows with a stuttering hip-hop inspired beat and a trippy atmosphere along with Jim’s rafters-reaching falsetto. Standout track “Dear One” features a playful keyboard melody as a hazy wall of sound and a fuzzed-out guitar compete for space. The new single, “A New Life” is a sentimental and soulful ballad with a swinging, doo-wop bent. The instrumental, “Exploding” is not as combustible as its title suggests but blooms into a short, introspective mid-album moment. “Of The Mother Again” opens with some chiming, Chinese sounding keyboards until a slinky guitar figure and a strutting rhythm collide. Another standout, “Actress” features a soaring vocal melodies and a string section that glides over and above the contrasting bursts of distorted guitars. “All Is Forgiven” is uplifting and soul-searching and is host to Jim’s best and most dynamic vocal performance on the album. The album closes with the Martin Luther King, Jr. referencing and Marvin Gaye-inspired “God’s Love To Deliver” and its hypnotic melodies.
A lot of times solo albums tend to be a little too experimental and all over the place, but the debut solo album from Jim James does not disappoint and is a cohesively strong album with one foot in the future and one in the past.
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