My Morning Jacket: “Z”
THE CD: “Z” (ATO Records) (To be released Oct. 4)
PERFORMER: My Morning Jacket
Few things are better than an experiment gone beautifully to plan. On their fourth and newest album “Z,” My Morning Jacket, armed with a new keyboardist, daringly gallivants across a range of styles from ska to prog rock. Every song on the way carries the sweet aroma of fresh territory yet exudes confident vigor.
As usual, the resonant voice of singer-songwriter Jim James guides the album’s mood: jf he mourns lost love, we feel his misery; if he sings joyfully, we feel his joy; and so on. (Check out his wail-a-la-Marvin Gaye on the opening track, “Wordless Chorus.”)
All keyed up
But the newly arrived musical weight of organist Bo Koster is clear from the very first syncopated chords of “Wordless Chorus.” He plays the catalyst in achieving whatever sound the band aims for.
The ska-sounding “Off the Record” lacks a brass instrument of any sort, but Koster’s calypso riff makes it on par with any diddy from Orange County. A second later, Koster escorts us deep into hypnosis via the carnival-like harpsichord waltz on “Into the Woods.” Even when Koster is in the background he is seemingly indispensible: he underpins the mellow song “Gideon” with a dreamy high-octave shroud, like the subtle lift a church organ gives a choir.
The whole band clearly feels adventurous, particularly James, whose compositions range the tonal map. Songs like “What a Wonderful Man” and “Anytime” have a jubilant, Modest Mouse-esque bounciness, but adjoin teary country songs like “Knot Comes Loose” and “Lay Low,” which could easily have been on Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” (with a little boiling down).
Tunes like the 7 1/2-minute “Dondante” revisit the prog rock themes of the Lousiville-based quintet’s 2003 album “It Still Moves,” but far more skillfully. Skill best describes “Z’s” contribution to the band’s catalog. All of their albums are ‘good,’ but through obvious hard work and innovation, this one clawed its way to ‘great.’
Visiting so many genres on one album is easy for a talented band like MMJ. What’s impressive is that they did it so damn well.
– by Morgan Kelly
