Edinburgh Student Newspaper

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.studentnewspaper.org/view_article.php?article_id=20051017142112

 
My Morning Jacket

5 Stars
 
Z
(Lost Highway)

All long hair and duelling guitar solos, MMJ should have been around when southern rock peaked in the 1970s. For fans, the reverb-drenched country anthems of 2003's It Still Moves crystallised a sound that could match anything conjured up in classic rock history. For everyone else, there perhaps wasn't much point. Two years on though and MMJ have changed perspective and found a new ambition.

Back with two new band members and the bright production of John Leckie, the band have clearly been reinvigorated. Dreamy album opener 'Wordless Chorus' instantly breaks the mould of previous material with exotic rhythms and captivating textures backing the spirally falsetto of singer Jim James.

Z is imbued with a newfound sense of spirituality: "Religion should appeal to the hearts of the young," James sings on 'Gideon' - perhaps indicating how the band have left preconceptions behind. And yet MMJ haven't relinquished ties to their trademark rootsy rock. Instead they have translated their ambition via a new sonic exploration. The familiar is still there. 'Lay Low' bobs and sways like only MMJ can while 'Anytime' is straightforward rock, charged by spiky guitar riffs and James' ragged wailing.

My Morning Jacket need no longer worry about their old-school Southern stereotypes because they have finally arrived to rock the present. A departure, if not a renaissance, Z is the classic record they have always threatened to make.


By David Kennedy

[rmwehner]

MMJ isn't on the Lost Highway label, it is on ATO/RCA