Uniform Distortion
UNIFORM DISTORTION was produced by Jim James and Kevin Ratterman at Louisville, KY’s La La Land, with Ratterman also serving as recording engineer. All songs were written by James, who is backed on the album by bassist Seth Kauffman (Floating Action) and longtime touring drummer Dave Givan, with backing vocals provided throughout by Dear Lemon Trees’ Leslie Stevens, Jamie Drake and Kathleen Grace. “My head feels like it is exploding with the amount of information we are forced to consume on a daily basis, and how that information is so DISTORTED there is almost no longer any tangible truth,” says James. “The name of my new record is UNIFORM DISTORTION because I feel like there is this blanket distortion on society/media and the way we gather our ‘news and important information. More and more of us are feeling lost and looking for new ways out of this distortion and back to the truth…and finding hope in places like the desert where I write this now...finding hope in the land and in the water and in old books offering new ideas and most importantly in each other and love.”
Information overload and its discontents inspire a guitar-heavy solo album that sounds more like a classic My Morning Jacket record than anything James’ band has released in the past 15 years.
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My Morning Jacket frontman's new record is as straightforward, accessible a set as he's ever presented
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The My Morning Jacket frontman's solo outing revels in no-frills classic rock and post-punk
Throughout his various solo endeavors, Jim James has been all over the musical map, from stripped-down acoustic songs (the first of two George Harrison tribute EPs) to electronically drenched spiritual songs (Regions of Light and Sound of God) to subdued experimental philosophical examinations (Eternally Even).
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Jim James' third solo album outside of My Morning Jacket opens with a screeching guitar and self-reflective lyrics.
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How great is Uniform Distortion? As great as Greg Sage’s Straight Ahead or Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Ragged Glory or Dungen’s Ta det lugnt or Alex Chilton’s Like Flies On Sherbert. That’s how great Uniform Distortion is.