We’re not likely to see My Morning Jacket in the Raleigh area any time soon. Last time through, restrictive noise ordinances at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheater prevented the Kentucky band from going full-volume, and the show experience suffered. So it’s no surprise that this current tour only sees one North Carolina stop: Charlotte.
It’s a shame we don’t get a local date because the new record, Circuital, is the strongest My Morning Jacket release since 2005’s Z. The songs are arena-huge, both topically and sonically, and the songwriting is on-point. Circuital, which was mostly recorded live in a church gymnasium, is soaked in natural reverb. So many things about the record sound natural or intuitive, much like the hybrid southern rock this band has been playing since the late 1990s.
It’s a return to form for a band whose last outing, 2008’s Evil Urges, disappointed on many counts. In a way, Circuital is an extension of the things that worked so well on Z. There’s strong musicianship and a healthy balance between the serious and the absurd, but it’s also a new creature. Though the roots of My Morning Jacket’s earlier catalog are obviously present, this is a record by a band that doesn’t stand still.
There are few retreads on Circuital. Opening track “Victory Dance” is a psychedelic slow-burner calling to mind The Flaming Lips’ Embryonic, an equally enormous record. On “The Day is Coming,” vocalist Jim James – aka Yim Yames – employs R&B phrasing over delicious stutter-step percussion. Overall, it’s reminiscent of Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose.”
And on gentle songs like “Movin’ Away” and “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” James’ folk rock-born lyrics express common sentiment without undue embellishment. “I’m going where the living is easy and people are kind,” he sings in the latter.
But most surprising – and most addicting – is “Holding On To Black Metal.” Not only is the track funny and insightful, but it also reveals a band that’s aware of what’s trending in the music world as a whole. Black metal started in the Netherlands, and the genre’s early history is lousy with murder, suicide and church-torchings. The style has resurged without violence in American independent music.
“Oh, black metal’s so misunderstood,” James sings with a wink in this impressive piece of pop culture criticism. He’s making fun of the absurd trappings of the genre, sure, but without being mocking or mean-spirited. With vocal backing from the nine “black metal girls” credited, incisive lyrics, and a rollicking country-rock feel, it’s a phenomenally catchy track. And it’s a fairly representative cut from Circuital: the best reason in six years to be excited about My Morning Jacket.
