I’ve always wondered what goes through the head of a musician that decides to write a solo album when they’re already in a well established band…. Plenty of great artists have taken it upon themselves to attempt to do their own thing over the years with varying degrees of success… Others unfortunately haven’t been so lucky… Stepping out on your own can be a horribly daunting task.. No matter who you are or what you do.. Going solo isn’t easy..

Thankfully in the case of Mr. Jim James of American psychedelic rock group My Morning Jacket this is not one of those moments where taking a leap of faith has failed him… In fact, this is a leap of musical faith that’s more than worth your time…. Whether you’re a fan of Jim’s past work or you’ve never heard of him before, Regions of Light and Sound of God is definitely an album that hits far more than it misses… And if you’ve been a long time listener of My Morning Jacket like myself you’ll certainly find solace in the fact that whilst this album isn’t incredibly revolutionary or groundbreaking.. It’s just Jim being Jim… And that’s all of us MMJ fans wanted from this album in the first place.. Isn’t it?

ROLASOG as I’ll call it from now on begins with the very funky State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U) which relies heavily on its piano backbone to combine with Jones’ signature tones… Sounding slightly reminiscent of a few great MMJ tracks, this is quite a cool opening number that manages to set the expectation of what’s to come for the rest of the album.. Make no mistake about it, ROLASOG is very much Jim Jones joint… Just about everything that I ever loved about the sound of a My Morning Jacket album isn’t really present here… And as much as it felt as though something crucial was missing on my first play-through of the album, with subsequent listens things just managed to fall into place a whole lot easier.. Yes this album is different from what I expected.. But that’s what makes it great.

Moving on from the slow build smoothness of the albums opening track, Jim keeps the funkiness coming with Know Til Now which features stop start drum beats, smooth bass and a very Mo-town-esque vibe that seems to suit the singer well… Sure there’s some synths thrown in for good measure, but where this track really shines is in its pace.. Although Know Til Now is rather methodical in its delivery it fits perfectly in amongst the fold of strong tracks on offer..

From here the album shifts into a slightly more upbeat groove with Dear One which most resembles something that you’d hear on a MMJ album.. Dealing with issues of the heart and soul, this is definitely another of the albums stand outs.. Many of which appear during the course of the albums first half.. Which I have to admit is most definitely its strong point..

Continuing on with the theme of love is A New Life which sees James channelling the energy and vocal prowess of past musical icons such as Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.. Whilst not the most creative track on the album it really does work quite well in amongst everything else that’s on offer.. The high note at the end of the song absolutely screams Elvis and it really is great to see Jim trying his hand at something that’s far removed from what I was used to hearing in any of his past work…

Moving on from A New Life is another softer number in  the albums interlude track Exploding… A 2 minute piece of guitar work that doesn’t really serve as anything more than a segway into the albums second half… Having touched on just how great I thought the first half of the album is… And knowing that James seems to have strived to create a perfect album for such a long time.. It pains me to say that the second half of the album just doesn’t reach the level of quality that the first half does. That’s not to say that the second half of ROLASOG is bad… It’s just slightly less amazing…

Although the second half of the album isn’t quite as strong as the first, it definitely has its stand out moments with Of The Mother Again which is a whimsical number full of MMJ style bass and a floating chorus which would make any MMJ fan feel right at home… And Actress which is also another of the albums star tracks.. But it’s from this point on that ROLASOG began to fall slightly flat for me…

The albums last couple of tracks have a remarkably different feeling from everything else that’s preceded them.. That’s not to say that they’re bad.. But I just wasn’t quite sold on the Egyptian vibe that was thrown at me within the last 8 minutes of the album… I think it’s great that Jim is thinking outside of the square that he seems to have found himself in.. But at the same time it’s slightly off-putting to hear an artist that you’ve known and loved for so long branch into a strange direction that doesn’t quite fit…. But..! If artists never tried to cover new ground then we’d never hear anything new and exciting.. So having said that.. I think it’s great that Jim has thrown a musical curveball within the last minutes of the album.. It just didn’t hit its mark with me.. Sorry Jim..

As I said at the start of this review.. Going solo can be difficult… It’s not for everyone that’s for sure… And I really do think that it takes a certain amount of balls to pull off a solo album that doesn’t sound like it’s something that you could have just pushed out with your current band… (I’m looking at you Brandon Flowers) So as opposed to releasing something that sounds a little too familiar it seems as though Jim James has made some large strides towards establishing himself as a solo artists with the release of this album..

There are only two small nitpicks that I have with ROLASOG.. As I mentioned before, the last two tracks  don’t really fit so well.. And secondly the album is short… In fact, it’s 40 minutes short.. Which makes me personally wish that a few of the albums precious minutes were spent a little more wisely… Around 10 minutes worth of the album really weren’t quite for me.. But hey.. That’s just my opinion… And I really think that you should make up your own mind on this one… Whether you’re a fan of My Morning Jacket or not, James has most definitely made an album that’s worth your time.. And although it may not take up a whole lot of it.. It’s certainly a chunk of music that’s worth experiencing multiple times to gain a full appreciation of…

Recommended.

Please don’t forget to check out Jim James at any of his official pages below..

And on a side note.. For any of those out there who are interested in graphic novels and other cool stuff.. James has been quoted as saying that the inspiration for Regions of Light and Sound of God came from a graphic novel by Lynd Ward entitled God’s Man.. And whilst I haven’t had the time to check out the graphic novel that inspired this album.. I’ve read many testaments from different people that seem to say that the two are a great fit for one another.. If you’ve personally had the chance to experience both together I’d love to get your opinions on how well they accompany one another… And as always.. Thanks for reading!!