Lee’s Listening Stack – My Morning Jacket – ‘Circuital’
My Morning Jacket
Circuital
ATO Records
Has it already been more than a decade and half a dozen albums already? It seems like only yesterday since My Morning Jacket made their understated debut, spinning out the subdued atmospherics of their early trilogy The Tennessee Fire, At Dawn and It Still Moves while building early enthusiasm via a combination of hazy psychedelia and subdued yet sensual grooves. Since that time, they’ve evolved into stadium sensations and steady stalwarts on the festival circuit, with a well-maintained thread that connects to both the jam band and southern rock faithful.
Regardless, Circuital marks a new start of sorts, one that boosts the volume and amplifies the energy to create a more vibrant pastiche. Jim James, under current nom de plume Yim Yames, continues to mine more introspective terrain – the beautiful acoustic ballad “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” the aptly named “Slow Slow Tune” and the closing piano lament “Movin Away” provide prime examples – while opening up the possibilities for generating some rarely-expressed wide-eyed optimism. Their swampy grooves and dark deliberation notwithstanding, the stealth-like stance invested in songs like “Victory Dance” and the title track support the melodies rather than define them. Yames and company even take a cheeky tone on occasion, whether delivering a druggie’s unrepentant confession (“Outta My System”) or firing up an opus dedicated to the end of days (“The Day Is Coming”)… and that despite the fact that the Rapture has come and gone. Ultimately, Circuital unfolds as a lush celestial celebration, a mesh of ambiance and intrigue that surges beyond boundaries and into more experimental realms. And given that combination, it offers a genuine sense of revelation. – Lee Zimmerman
Lee Zimmerman is a contributor to a variety of publications, including Blurt, M Music & Musicians, New Times, Goldmine and Amplifier
This review appears courtesy of Amplifier, 50,000 Watts of Non-Stop Indie Rock http://amplifiermagazine.blogspot.com/