There are a few artists on the planet that I could enjoy listening to singing the telephone directory. It’s all in the voice, natural and unforced, these artists have no need to “sing” as such, they just have the ability to make the sweetest sounds with the minimum effort.
Jim James is one of those artists, possessed of angelic tones, his voice seemingly coming from another world. I first encountered Jim’s soaring vocals on a chance playing on the radio of Lowdown, a track by My Morning Jacket, from their album At Dawn. Enthralled by the song, I played it repeatedly and was transfixed by this man’s incredible voice. Then came the chance to see them play in Belfast’s famous Limelight, the countrified sounds of the recordings were replaced by a sonic swell of loud guitars and there was hair. Lots of hair and the kind of head banging associated with those of a more metallic slant. MMJ have moved away from their early country/rock sound into more soul/funk leanings and to these ears, it’s not for the better. Jim has taken this urge and multiplied it on his second solo outing with mixed results.
Things start slowly but well with State Of The Art, a lonesome piano and Jim reminding us again of that voice, but the track mutates into shuffling funk and the vocal melody is repeated until the song’s “a,e,i,o,u” ad-libbed end. This introductory offering is followed up with a more upbeat bumpy funk/soul hybrid that might be what Sly would sound like if he were still recording.
The best track is the intriguing A New Life that begins as a wondrous country lament (that conjures up images of deserts and moonlight) before switching, bizarrely, into the kind of 50’s doo-wop sound that Frankie Valli would have been proud of. It’s a lone highlight in this collection though.
Of the 9 tracks, one is a short instrumental interlude, pretty in execution but ultimately unremarkable. There’s an obvious nod to Prince throughout, Of The Mother Again has a looping twinkling undertow that pays heavy homage the refrain from Purple Rain. Actress features lush strings and promises much but ends up going nowhere. The final two tracks really go for it with the experimentation, All Is Forgiven is a mournful Arabian boogie (seriously) and the final dreamscape God’s Love To Deliver could feasibly pass as an offcut from Deserter’s Songs.
Jim insists these days on strangling those honeyed soaring vocals in favour of a more Superfly Kermit styling. Perhaps that’s what these sketches of tracks demand, the fact is the songs just aren’t there to be sung and this leaves me feeling disappointed. Now, where’s my copy of At Dawn?
The lowdown on this album is that Jim has provided us with a collection that has some interesting ideas, but lacks the quality of songwriting to showcase “that” voice.
Available on February 4th through V2.
Words by Geoff Topley.
