Mason Jennings goes electric with
Blood of Man, which finds the Hawaii native channeling the raw, loose sounds of
Bob Dylan and
Bruce Springsteen. This isn't a rock & roll record, but it's the closest that
Jennings has ever come to losing himself in amplified noise, and there's a sense of homespun energy fueling each rootsy number.
Jennings handles all the instrumental duties himself, embracing slightly imperfect performances rather than smoothing them out, and the album's production -- also helmed entirely by
Jennings -- is suitably straightforward, eschewing the usual studio polish for a simple pinch of reverb. There are stronger ways to highlight a songwriter's craft, better microphones to use, and more experienced studio musicians to enlist. But that doesn't seem to be the point here, as
Blood of Man concerns itself with all the raw aspects of life, from war to addiction to heartbreak.
Jennings strengthens the album by simply tying its themes together, paying attention to the various relationships between melody and instrument, lyrics and atmosphere, performance and production. 2004's
Use Your Voice had a similar agenda, and
Blood of Man sounds like that album's companion piece, merging the same traces of folk, roots rock, and small-town storytelling with a simple increase in volume. ~ Andrew Leahey