The Morning After

With their sixth studio release, My Morning Jacket has delivered one of the best albums of 2011. Each song on Circuital is an expedition into beautifully crafted instrumentation, unique blends of various genres, and of course, garnished with lead songwriter, Jim James’ astonishing vocals.

“Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” has a very Dylan-esque folk jam, with Jim James showing his singer/songwriter talents while paying homage to the sounds of yesterday. The psychedelic strumming of “First Light” takes one back to the glorious days of rock and roll, peace and love and everything within. “You Wanna Freak Out” is a wonderful little ditty that permeates the soul with a truly spiritual, cathartic finale.

The title track journeys across the spectrum of music in seven minutes, going back and forth from a space-trekking soundtrack to a simple rock and roll jam. “Movin’ Away” brings the eventful musical voyage to a slow halt, with a warm piano track spackled with spacey flares of serenity.

Circuital feels as if the band is at a new horizon, laced with maturity while still embracing the past. Though the band still dives into the deep end of experimentation, they have managed to produce a very succinct portrait of colorful and well-composed tracks. Sit down, relax and simply allow yourself to drift into abyss of sounds, melodies and harmonics brought to you by Jim James and company.