My Morning Jacket are one of those rare bands that really struggle to produce a poor record.
Gliding onto the scene in 1999 with their impressive country stained indie rock debut, The Tennessee Fire, the Kentucky band have failed to disappoint since, releasing a further six records that have cemented their consistency crown, and their latest effort, The Waterfall, is an emphatic example of this.
The 10-track release sees the quintet stomp their feet in familiar grounds of softer sonics, producing a stellar 48-minutes worth of soothing psychedelica, enthralling prog-rock and infectious pop and indie rock.
Obvious stands-outs include the first leaked track, ‘Big Decisions’. A straight-up indie rock tune, the track wields all the hallmarks of an instant classic, the anthemic chorus of “What do you want me to do?/Make all the big decisions for you?/Well I can’t” making for the perfect vent of frustration.
My Morning Jacket’s schizophrenic sonic personalities all come together for one big meeting on ‘Spring (Among The Living)’, the band drawing on each of their musical traits, from indie, pop, psychedelica, prog and howling rock to form a beautiful 6-minutes of pure bliss.
Jim James’ voice is still pitch perfect, (showing contemporaries like Fleet Foxes how it’s really done) as he crusies on the breezy, ‘Thin Line’, the vocal harmonies entirely encompassing.
The two finals tracks on The Waterful, ‘Tropics (Erase Traces)’ and ‘Only Memories Remain’, favour a more progressive-psych vibe, the former a slow-building gem, the latter a lofty, more dream-like closer that’ll coax you into dropping the needle at the very beginning of the album.
However our absolute favourite is unquestionably ‘Compound Fracture’, a slice of psych-pop brilliance that instils the most euphoric intrinsic state of mind. The simple track is powered by a rumbling bass line and soaring synths, James’ vocals, the true champion of the song, the tune peaking each time James howls “for who knows how long”. A serious repeat-button masher if we ever heard one.
On their seventh studio LP, My Morning Jacket have proved, once again, that they’re an indie rock force to be reckoned with, completely comfortable in pushing their own creative boundaries, and with talk of their next album already well and truly in the pipeline – we definitely know this won’t be the last time we sing the talented five-piece’s praises.
