SOUND BITES

  Jack White's second album of 2022 was billed as the gentler, more traditional sister album to Fear of the Dawn , the counterpart to a chaotic and far-ranging record that promised less wild mood swings and more emotional resonance. Fans of White's first pair of solo records (especially Blunderbuss ), as well as some of The White Stripes more tender tunes (especially those found on Get Behind Me Satan ), will be pleased to know that Entering Heaven Alive arrives more or less as advertised. What's odd about Jack White's solo discography, though, is the way that his fifth album sort of throws the trajectory off; starting off with more standard fare before gradually growing wilder, funkier and louder with each album, Entering Heaven Alive is rather easy to read as a step back. By stripping away the more outlandish experiments and presenting relatively traditional songs, there's a natural tendency to take an album like this as a creative step back or, worse, a watered...

  If you thought Jack White's fourth album might find him dialing back the kid-with-new-toys attitude of Boarding House Reach , his first attempt at digital recording, you don't know Jack. Granted, two points: first, there is a second album coming this summer, one that apparently sees White recording with supplemental musicians in a more traditional sense. Second, Fear of the Dawn was largely constructed during the pandemic, while White was surrounded by all of his toys with all of the inspiration he could ask for and no one to play with. So as to say, further to the exercise in exploration Boarding House Reach was, Fear of the Dawn is truly the product of a singular, talented and creative mind left to its own devices for a prolonged period of time. This much is made clear by the buzz saw lead track (and first single) Taking Me Back , a fiery and relentless number that establishes much of the album's through lines, namely a focus on volume and a liberal use of different ...

When it comes to divisiveness among fan bases, few artists outside of hot button genres (I'm thinking punk and metal are chief among those) are more hotly debated or as heavily scrutinized as Jack White. Throughout his tenure with The White Stripes alongside ex-wife Meg, Jack established himself as a budding saviour to rock and roll, all while playing cheap guitars and recording on cheap equipment, only allowing his band to operate within narrow parameters that he'd instilled himself; the red/white/black only colour scheme, the warts-and-all performances, the resistance to additional instrumentation, this was the box he had fashioned for himself and he didn't let anything out or in during The White Stripes' formative years. Then, Elephant happened; after years of honing skills, playing shows and building buzz, the mainstream fever broke. Bolstered by eternal stadium anthem Seven Nation Army , The White Stripes' fourth album was an artistic and commercial breakth...

Get Behind Me Satan is arguably The White Stripes' most interesting and divisive album; after years of a screeching plastic guitar, drums and vocals being basically the only instruments allowed on record as the Stripes built their indie empire, Jack White blew it all up in 2005. All manner of added instrumentation was brought in, from pianos to horn sections to violins. It was thrilling to hear the music being pushed into unfamiliar (and sometimes uncomfortable) places, but one also had the sense that something had explicitly and irrevocably changed; we'd never have it the same way again. Sure enough, after one more (admittedly, amazing) album, The White Stripes called it a day, and Jack went on to his various side projects, following every musical whim with The Dead Weather before releasing the formidable solo debut Blunderbuss a couple years back. The reason I mention Get Behind Me Satan is because I get a similar feeling listening to Lazaretto , White's second solo a...

JACK WHITE Sixteen Saltines From: Blunderbuss Released: April 24 Few artists have ever, or will ever, have their solo debut as hotly anticipated or as closely inspected as Jack White. Fans of The White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather alike had to be wondering just where he would go; what sort of musical statement was worthy, after all this time, of brandishing his own name? As it turns out, Blunderbuss wasn't so much a statement as it was a love letter, to all of Mr. White's influences. Soul, the blues, old-time country, garage rock, all are given their due on Blunderbuss . And yet, as wide a range of sounds inhabit the album, it flows remarkably well. Its novelty may have worn off somewhat, but it's definitely one of the year's most interesting and engaging listens.

With one of the year's most exciting Tuesdays just five days away, this week I was reminded again of just how much times have changed.  Rather than painfully wiling the days away and pining for that release date to come so I could listen to the albums I wanted most badly, and rather than deal with the impatience and guilt of pirating said albums when they leak, the internet has given us a most happy medium in the way of streams. Long a practice reserved for fringe artists, the advance album stream has become increasingly common.  And this week, we've been given the chance to sink our teeth into not one but two fantastic records that see official releases next week.

News broke this morning about White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather brain trust Jack White's first proper solo album getting released in April, followed by word that its first single would appear "very soon".  White held true to his word, even in our warp-speed everything-always-now times, as we've already got a taste of Love Interruption for your streaming pleasure.  It's never a bad thing when a song starts off reminding you of Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man , and Love Interruption did that for me, so kudos. Judging from the lyrics, it sounds like Jack wants love to do some pretty heinous things.  Anyway, the album is called Blunderbuss and will be unleashed via Third Man/Columbia on April 24.