Album Review: "Regions Of Light And Sound Of God" - Jim James

"Regions Of Light And Sound Of God": A-.  As a fan of the Kentucky rock band My Morning Jacket, I was eager to check out Jim James' first solo effort, Regions Of Light And Sound Of God, released in mid-February. James is the front man and principal writer for MMJ. As a soloist, he writes, sings and produces in a fashion totally distinguishable from MMJ. In my book that is a plus, as the music industry has too many artists who go on ego trips by taking on side projects with respect to which the listener is left wondering why the artist could not have recorded his music within the context of his band. James' music is experimental, ethereal, mystical, orchestral and spiritual, all characteristics that one would not ordinarily associate with his full band, MMJ.

Momma Cuandito and I were first alerted to Regions Of Light when Jay Leno invited him to play A New Life on the Tonight Show. Many of Leno's music guests are never heard from again, at least not nationally, but kudos to his producer for booking James. Momma Cuan and I were still talking the next day about how great the song was, and indeed, it is the best song on the nine track album. (I subsequently bought Regions Of Light for MC as a Valentine's Day present.) On this song, as in others, James' sings with a tenderness and sweet tenor that you'd never guess could come out of a guy who looks like he should be rockin' with the Drive By Truckers. A New Life is a wonderful love song, sincere without the sap.

My second favorite song on the album is Actress. The singer cleverly compares his love interest to an actress.

You're good at making everyone believe that they love you,
A little wink of the eye, a little glimpse of the thigh,
And we're in heaven.

Once he is hooked he finds out too late that she was playing a role with him, just as she would in a movie or a play.

In the wink of an eye our life changes,
What I came to know as you
Had been replaced with something new.

One thing that jumped out at me is the astonishing similarity between James' voice and that of the late John Lennon. If I didn't know the Smart Beatle had died thirty-three years ago, I would swear that was his voice on the album's third track, Dear One. Is it merely a coincidence that Lennon sang the lead on the Beatles' somewhat similarly titled Dear Prudence? If you acquire Regions Of Light and already own the White Album, try playing those two songs back-to-back to enjoy the sonic similarity.

Maybe I'm reaching here, but Dear One is not the only song on the new James album which evoked memories of a Beatles tune. The echoey background vocals in God's Love To Deliver reminded me of the same type of arrangement on She's Leaving Home from Sergeant Pepper.

I wrote above that James' music is spiritual. The best song in that vein is All Is Forgiven, delivering the ecumenical admonishment that whether you are Christian, Muslim, or of some other religion, you must keep the faith that your sins will be forgiven. After all, God (or Allah) sent His Son (or the prophet Mohammad) to deliver that very message to the world. The instrumentation in the song is haunting, with the horns and keyboards conjuring images of Indian snake charmers.

James was inspired to make this solo album after reviewing a graphic novel from 1929, God's Man. The book contains no words. Rather, the pages show wood cuts made by Lyn Ward which depict the adventures of an artist. Unlike most painters or drawers who start with a plain white paper or canvas, a wood carver starts with a block of (usually dark) wood and chips away to reveal a figure or a scene originally encapsulated within that block, as envisioned by the artist. Darkness giving way to light. I am guessing this explains James' strange choice of State Of The Art to lead off the album. (If I were sequencing songs for an album, and assuming those songs had a variety of tempos, I would not opt to start with the slowest song.) The meaning of the song is hidden, just as those figures and scenes encapsulated in the wood. My take is that the more we rely on God given talents, rather than modern technological toys, the better we will be.

If you have been putting off getting yourself a really nice set of headphones, Regions Of Light And Sound Of God affords you the perfect opportunity.