My Morning Jacket is not an easy band to listen to. There’s so much going on in the music, it’s hard for listeners to settle back and get comfortable. They have to be on their toes.
“Circuital” is not an exception to this rule. Recorded in the gymnasium of a church in Louisville, Ky., it completely eschews the dark, funky and intimate feel of “Evil Urges” for a more echoing and anthemic approach.
Though definitely an original way of recording an album, the acoustics of the church gymnasium have both advantages and disadvantages. The echoes of the environment serve the more atmospheric tracks extremely well. However, they hamper some of the smaller-scale songs by obscuring the intricate instrumental work and making some lyrics difficult to distinguish amid the washes of sound.
Though this is an expansive album, the darkness and urgency are still present. “Victory Dance,” the first track, is driven by a menacing groove, finally boiling down to something resembling a primal yell in its final few seconds. It’s a bit of an unsettling way to start off a record.
From there, My Morning Jacket pulls no punches. The album’s title track channels the frustration of feeling as though one’s life is going in circles.
When it comes to dark songs, however, “Holdin on to Black Metal” takes the cake. A sultry and seductive track with jazzy brass and a memorable bass groove, the song embraces the darker sides of life. Vocalist Jim James mentions the devil himself, singing, “Catchin’ waves on Lucifer’s beach / Takin’ shade underneath Lucifer’s trees.” It’s the best song on the album.
That’s not to say that “Circuital” is a one-trick pony. My Morning Jacket’s lighter side, as well as its sense of humor, is also on display. “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” is another jewel on the CD. Especially notable in the song is the orchestral accompaniment, which sounds the slightest bit tinny but in a way that evokes pleasant feelings of nostalgia.
The band also shows its sense of humor through songs such as “Outta My System,” written from the perspective of a man in jail who unapologetically recounts the various crimes he needed to get out of his system, and “Slow Slow Tune,” which is exactly what the title implies: a slow, slow tune perfect for a slow, slow dance.
The album closes with the memorable “Movin Away,” a song that takes full advantage of beautiful and mournful piano and slide guitar. In his best and more earnest vocal work on the album, James sings about moving away from a love to begin a new chapter of his life. The echoes of the church gymnasium aid the feeling of a wide-open future.
Though the band’s makeshift soundstage sometimes inhibits songs by obscuring finer details and lyrics, the album is solid overall and will leave the listener a bit disturbed. Luckily for My Morning Jacket fans, however, it’s the kind of disturbed that they have come to know and love in the band’s work.