Listen Up Manchester album rating: 8/10
Back in
2008, Jim James became obsessed with the early Graphic Novel, God’s Man by Lynd
Ward. In what was a ground breaking format for the time, the book tells the
story of an impoverished artist who accepts a gift of a magic paintbrush from a
stranger clad only in black. The artist at first finds riches beyond his
wildest dreams but soon finds himself losing his sanity and ultimately, his
life, as the true nature of the stranger is revealed.
Taking time
away from his day job with My Morning Jacket, he began composing and writing
songs inspired by this tale and these would ultimately become his debut solo
album. The result is a quite beautiful record with a thoroughly dreamlike quality.
It’s what you imagine the afterlife must sound like; unknown, hazy and ethereal
but at the same time, comforting and safe.
It impossible
to pigeon hole this album and every track is different and takes on its own
form. The opening song, ‘State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U)’, starts with a simple
piano backing with James’s vocal, both strong and fragile at once, telling a
cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for; ‘Your signing on forever.
When you ink it in blood’. ‘Dear One’ is driven by a complex drum beat and
fuzzy bass and ‘Exploding’ is a simple instrumental picked out on an acoustic guitar,
distorting and changing as it reaches its climax. As the album plays through,
it’s similar to being in a dream filled sleep; each one is slightly different
but once they’re finished, you can't clearly remember individual details, you’re
just left with the feeling they gave you.
If there is
one criticism, it’s that there are no natural peaks here; the album glides
along, in and out of consciousness, before drifting to a quiet close. At the
same time though, there are no real weak moments. It’s written to be enjoyed as
a whole and at just over 40 minutes long, it’s easy to let this wash over you
without feeling your committing too much. Come back repeatedly though and ‘Regions
Of Light And Sound Of God’ starts to reveal some stunning depths that are begging to
be explored.
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