My Morning Jacket's eclecticism has long been one of their strong suits, and their sonic wanderlust continues on their seventh studio album,
The Waterfall.
Jim James and his bandmates have followed a lot of different stylistic paths since they made their debut at the end of the '90s, and the polished, prog-laced classic rock sound of "Believe (Nobody Knows)" and the sleek mix of soft rock and Euro-disco on "Compound Fracture" are both effective and sterling examples of stuff
MMJ couldn't have pulled off in their early days. At the same time,
My Morning Jacket take a more easygoing route on
The Waterfall, with songs like "Thin Line" and "Tropics (Erase Traces)" slipping into a comfortable midtempo drift that plays like the sound of a Sunday afternoon. In many respects, the album's simplest and most emotionally direct song, "Get the Point," is also the best, sounding honest and straight from the heart, and reflecting this band's past and present with equal resonance. On
The Waterfall,
My Morning Jacket look for new paths musically, following their muse as they did on
Evil Urges and
Circuital, as well as looking within themselves, and the tight but comfortable give and take between the musicians and
Tucker Martine's clear, strong production is certain to please fans of this singular American band. ~ Mark Deming