IN REVIEW: My Morning Jacket - "The Waterfall II"

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You can tell a lot about a band from the quality of the music that they release, obviously; it's another thing entirely, though, to take into consideration the quality of the music that they don't. In my mind, some bands separate themselves from the herd based on B-sides and outtakes that match and even sometimes surpass the material on their studio albums. 

The case of My Morning Jacket sort of fits the narrative, but not really; they don't have a ton of unreleased content (at least, not that I'm aware of) but the sessions for their 2015 album The Waterfall were fruitful enough to leave them with a fair amount of unused songs. That's the setup for The Waterfall II, not a sequel but an addendum, an album-length experience pieced together from that unused music, released five years after the original's release.

These songs don't always rival the ones that made the first album's release, but there is a lot of charm and chill contained here, and also a handful of surprises (which isn't surprising considering the band's penchant for trying on new hats). There's the country-disco foot tapper Climbing the Ladder, which is perhaps the record's most pleasant oddity. Feel You, with its lush orchestration and slow groove, becomes one of MMJ's most effectively emotional numbers, while Beautiful Love (Wasn't Enough) comes as close to displaying their Beatles influence as anything in their repertoire, with a screechy, twisted solo thrown in for good measure. Layering is key on this record, with instrumentation and vocals piled on thick in places, most effectively on the lengthy, muscular Wasted; this one takes six minutes but is so worth the wait .

The Waterfall II plays really well as an album, and it's easy to forget that this is a collection of songs they'd previously left behind. The added touches and sequencing are expertly done, the songs are mostly up to snuff and I'm glad these songs saw the light of day, even if it took five years. The good news is, we hopefully won't have to wait so long for the next one; Jim James claims they've already got an all-new record in the can but are waiting until they can tour it to release it. So, add another to the massive list of reasons we want this global pandemic to be over.

July 10, 2020 • ATO
Highlights Feel You • Magic Bullet • Wasted

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