MMJ - Evil Urges self-description

[cmccubbin@work]

from an e-mail sent out by the production company (Production Simple):

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges:
It's ambitious territory for the group's fifth full-length studio album, and it's matched by the most far-ranging, suprising, and satisfying sounds of their career. From the freak-funk electro-slam of "Highly Suspicious" to th contemplative "Sec Walkin' ", which could almost be a Nashville standard, on Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket display the scope and fearlessness that demonstrates their growth into one of the world's great rock & roll bands.

One key to attaining these new heights was a change of scenery. The band recorded their first three albums--the independent releases The Tennessee Fire (1999) and At Dawn (2001), and their 2003 ATO debut It Still Moves--in their home studio outside of Louisville, Kentucky. These records established the signature MMJ sound, mixing soaring harmonies with cascading, psychedelic guitars, and drenching the whole thing in head-ringing reverb. For their last studio album, 2005's widely acclaimed Z, they headed to Allaire Studios at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. Working with producer John Leckie, they crafted a more eclectic blend of sounds, bringing James's vocals further forward and adding reggae, soul, and pure pop into their gumbo.

This time, though, they opted for a different kind of setting, recording the bulk of Evil Urges in midtown Manhattan's Avatar Studios. "We wanted to deliberately try to make ourselves uncomfortable and shake it up," says James. "I feel like New York is just limitless possibility--you never knew what you'd see on the way to the studio, every morning was an adventure."

Evil Urges marks a new high point for a band that is proudly, impressively evolving. Z was a breakthrough for My Morning Jacket, really their first attempt to use the studio to do more than just capture their incomparable live sound (as documented on the mesmerizing live 2006 CD and DVD releases, both titled Okonokos). This album, though, extends that sense of experimentation and aspiration--and Jim James gives credit to his bandmates for the accomplishment.