Xoxo
The 11th Jayhawks studio album XOXO was released July 10, 2020 on Sham/Thirty Tigers. Recorded in late 2019 at Pachyderm and Flowers Studios in Minnesota, XOXO represents a bold step forward. For the first time, all four members contribute writing and lead vocal duties. XOXO is the most diverse and wide-ranging in the group’s storied history. Rather than marking a sonic departure, though, the collection signals a sharpening of focus for the band, an elevation in understanding of who they are and what they do best. In classic Jayhawks fashion, the songs here mix the influence of American roots music with British invasion and jangly power-pop, but there’s a newfound vitality at play, as well, an invigoration of confidence and energy that could only come with the injection of fresh blood. The result is an album that, much like the band’s lush harmonies, brings multiple distinctive voices together into a singular whole, a collection that, ironically enough, finds unity in individuality and identity in reinvention.
The long-running Minnesota band’s 11th album is a distillation of their manifold strengths, largely comprised of pastoral accounts of American beauty curdling into something coarser and sadder.
How is this Jayhawks' release different than all other Jayhawks' albums? All other Jayhawks' records primarily featured the work of leader Gary Louris (or...
The Minnesotan veterans are back with more top-drawer Americana. New Music review by Russ Coffey