My Morning Jacket – Is review

Four occasionally fractious years on from their self titled ninth album, My Morning Jacket have changed their course by changing their process. Whereas front man Jim James has chiefly held the reigns on production duties in the past, in came Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam collaborator Brendan O’Brien, an experience which revitalised their creative process.

Such was his impact that despite having made demos for Is running into three figures, with O’Brien the quintet then wrote half a record’s worth of new material under his steerage. Perhaps that’s the reason why the jam based approach to the sprawling My Morning Jacket has been largely abandoned, but despite it’s successor’s title addressing the wholly unpredictable journey of life and musicianship, fun is definitely being had.

Any doubts about this are overridden by the cheesy show band grin of I Can Hear Your Love, whilst Everyday Magic’s neat Rhodes and clean lines speak to a Mojo rediscovered. If O’Brien appears to have let them rediscover the joys of directness and brevity, it’s not to anything’s detriment, opener Out In The Open, the nasty(ish) blues of Squid Ink and Lemme Know each full of breadth and purpose. The highlight though is Time Waited, it’s twinkling piano and grand chorus a glorious throwback to the Yacht Rock era. When letting go works, it works.

You can read a full review here.