CD REVIEW: MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall

CD REVIEW: MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall
Capitol Records
4 May, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Wilfully defying any kind of pigeon-holing, My Morning Jacket are perhaps best described as The Flaming Lips tripping on acid and playing alt-country – yet even such an open-ended and broad brushstroke does little to adequately prepare the listener for the transcendant listening experience in store.

One thing that’s undeniable though, is that The Waterfall is a trip, that’s for sure, and whilst The Flaming Lips could be better labelled My Morning Jacket’s spiritual brothers rather than a prime influences, you could also put Radiohead in that sentence.

The end result is something very different to any run-of-the-mill commercial radio dross. It’s out there in a class of its own and whether this mostly gentle collection of tunes that dwell in the lysergic collision of indie folk, alt country and soft rock and pop is your normal bag or not, it’s impossible to be anything other than impressed by the talent and vision on offer.

In It’s Infancy (The Waterfall) is an aural LSD trip; Get The Point could have been a ‘70s country pop hit; Big Decisions could almost be from 10CC’s heyday – but Jim James and My Morning Jacket owe nothing to anyone but their own gloriously left-of-centre talent.

Category: CD Reviews