In his Confessions of a Sinner Saint Augustine struggled to define heaven from the earthly realm, he described the Heaven of Heavens as "intellectual heaven," a place where the intellect is privileged to know all, at once, a place quite apart from the ebb and flow of humanity.
On Z My Morning Jacket search out the same place. They wonder high above the stratosphere with Jim James' arch-falsetto and a rhythm section outside trends, focused only on reaching God via both simmering and challenging songs that might once have been called Americana but are now simply brilliant. To say My Morning Jacket defines Southern Rock is an abusive slur - they've well transcended it here on their fourth LP.
Opening with the bumping Kid A style electro wobble of Wordless Chorus allows the band to, from the gate, drop any pretence of following on from their last album It Still Moves.
To carry the Radiohead analogy a little further James uses his vocals the same way Yorke does. His voice is an instrument that is constantly stretched and re-interpreted - put through the blender and pushed out the other end - and in some way it is more pure for the experiment. Listen to him on Gideon and you'll understand.
Like much of the album James' songwriting allows you the illusion of space, there's not a note missing from the songs but he gives you room to float a little and if you grab onto his vocals, to go high above the humdrum.
Then, when the song risks floating too far from home he pulls it back with a duly undeniable pop hook - rhythm section lock in step with him. All of this and I haven't even mentioned that delightful Hawaii Five O riff James manages to steal without looking so much as suspicious.
3.5/4
Similar sounding releases
1997RadioheadOK Computer
2005Lake TroutNot Them You
2005Popstar AssassinsModerne
2004Arcade FireFuneral
2003Viva VoceLovers, Lead the Way!
2002The Black Heart ProcessionAmore Del Tropico
