Album of the Week: My Morning Jacket The Waterfall

At their best, My Morning Jacket is an intergalactic amalgamation of classic rock and gritty soul, with a dash of funk style and prog-rock delivery.

So, it's fitting the first sound you hear on the band's newest album, The Waterfall, is what sounds like a spaceship taking off on a cosmic journey. The Kentucky band has never been content being earthbound, and on this album they present perhaps the most balanced mix of their alt-rock twang and Prince-soul stylings.

First, a bit of reassuring news – Jim James still has the best voice in music today, and to quote Killer Mike from Run the Jewels, if you don't believe me, "thenmaggot fuck, then fight me." He is capable of growling like a bear that just woke up from hibernation, deep, grumbly and husky, and then he sends it into the stratosphere with some of the most alarmingly lovely high notes I've ever heard (as heard on Z's "Wordless Chorus").

James uses his voice as a subtle tool on The Waterfall, and while his signing lacks some of the adventurousness found on Evil Urges, it may well be his most consistent album (from a vocal standpoint) in years. "Spring (Among the Living)" gives James a chance to show almost his entire range in one song, and lets the rest of the band follow along on a future funk journey of rebirth.

Rebirth and rediscovery are the themes of the album, and for all the sonic adventures the band takes, it features some of James' most personal lyrics. Several of the songs focus on the ending of a relationship and growing apart from the person you once loved.

On "Thin Line" James sings about the "thin line between loving and wasting my time," and how loving someone doesn't mean you belong together. And then there's "Get the Point," one of the album's prettiest numbers. It's also their version of Bob Dylan's funniest (and meanest) break-up songs, and is just beautiful in its simplicity.

This is the first time I've heard a string section on an MMJ album, and its use on the aforementioned "Thin Line" and "Get the Point" add some lovely flourishes. The strings are put to best use on closer "Only Memories Remain," which lets James do his sweet soul thing to draw the album to the close. It's easily their best closing song to date, and is easily one of the band's loveliest works.

The Waterfall features some of the bands catchiest songs since It Still Moves, and the group has become incredibly skilled at creating hooks that may not hit you over the head, but still manage to be subtly ingratiating, especially upon repeat listens. To wit, it's easy to see why "Big Decisions" was selected as the lead single off the album – it perfectly distills everything the band has learned about being "radio friendly" while remaining undeniably themselves. My Morning Jacket seems incapable of jettisoning who they are for a wider audience (praise be!) and we should all be grateful for it.

James and company have never been hesitant about wearing their influences on their sleeves, and they continue the trend here – there are the touches of Dylan (of course), bits of Neil Young in the southern stylings, Jimmy Page guitar-work, a bit of The Doors on the synths and keys, and of course Prince in James' voice. One of the highest compliments I can give them is while they've never hidden the musicians who've been influences, the way My Morning Jacket blends all these elements together creates a sound that is utterly original and exploratory.

There is a sense of exploration on The Waterfall that has me very excited about what My Morning Jacket has coming next. James has said in recent interviews that when the band got together they ended up with so much material that they basically recorded two albums, and the next one will be out early 2016, so we have that to look forward to. Until then, I'm more than happy to let the band carry me over the waterfall with this album – because as My Morning Jacket knows, the freefall leads to flight.

The Waterfall is out on ATO.  

Album of the Week: The Decemberists What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World

There's a scene in the bootleg cut of Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous where Patrick Fugit's rock journalist is talking to Billy Crudup's budding rock star about their favorite music. They're riffing about the little details in music that people remember, and Crudup mentions Marvin Gaye's "What'sHappening Brother" and a single "woo" at the end of the second verse – a "woo" that completely hooks the listener.

"That's what you remember. The silly things, the little things," he says. "There's only one, and it makes the song."

For me, there's a similar moment three minutes and thirty-nine seconds into "Lake Song" from The Decemberists' latest, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, where singer Colin Meloy delivers the lines "Set the ghost of your two footprints/That they might haunt me when you're gone." On the word "gone" he adds an extra lilt, a slightly more sing-songy enunciation that gives the word a quiet, but devastating lift. It kills me every time I listen to it, and I've listened to it a lot.

What A Terrible World… is a stunning tapestry of these kinds of moments, and arrives halfway through the first month of 2015 as the year's first great album. It may lack the cohesive structure that made The Crane Wife and The Hazards of Love so interesting, but it's tough to argue when Meloy and company are churning out songs as smart and goddamn pretty as they do here.

The Decemberists' last album The King Is Dead came out four years ago and brought with it the group's biggest commercial success at the time. All of sudden radio stations that would've blanched at playing the band's earlier work were playing songs like "Down By The Water" once every couple hours. The album's success was mostly due to the band's ability to marry its brilliant, erudite lyrics with a little less jagged Neil Young-esque instrumentation.

It felt like after all the new attention The Decemberists needed to step back a spend a little time with themselves before venturing forth again and the time has clearly been well spent. The sound more energized here than most brand new bands.

What A Terrible World… continues to expand the band's sonic palette, whether it’s the George Harrison style guitar work on "Philomena," Nick Drake-like acoustics on "Lake Song" or "Till the Water Is All Long Gone," which sounds like they lifted wholesale the Spanish guitar picking from Van Morrison's "Beside You."

As always with this group, the storytelling and lyrics are really what make the album special.

The album kicks off with the most self-aware song this side of a Taylor Swift hit, "The Singer Addresses His Audience," which features Meloy wryly singing lines like "We know, we know, we belong to ya/We know you grew your arms around us/And the hopes we wouldn't change." Meloy leaves it to the listener to decide if they want to read it as grateful, sarcastic or a mix of both.

On "Till the Water Is All Long Gone" Meloy seems to be channeling lost civilizations and centuries of political strife into a simple ballad about defending one's daughter (it's also the second song to mention coming down from a mountain – a reference to the band's return after several years of quiet? Discuss amongst yourselves.)

The album wraps up with the stellar one-two punch of "12-17-12" and "A Beginning Song." The former title is in reference to the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and tackles the aftermath of an event that reminded the country again (as if there was any need for it) that even our children aren't safe in school. "Oh my God, what a world you have made here," Meloy sings and you can hear his broken heart in the delivery.

"A Beginning Song" ends the album on a more hopeful note by asking the listener what he or she is waiting for, when the time is now to chase one's dreams or goals. It ends with the band chanting the bright light "is all around me." It's gorgeous, and an early contender for best album closer of the year.

If Crowe is right in Almost Famous (and let's face it – he is) then it really is the little things that make music special and The Decemberists are experts at adding little touches for everyone. Like a novel in short stories, they've created a masterclass in the craft with What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. Act accordingly.

What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World is out on Capitol.