“Magick Songs” is the 13th(!) record from Nashville, Tennessee band JEFF the Brotherhood, and it’s the culmination of time and energy well spent. Some current fans of the band may find the sonic departure in this collection to be striking, but striking in a positive way. I had to double check a number of times while listening to the record that I was still, in fact, listening to the same album from the same band that made one of the best albums of 2011 – if not the best – with “We Are the Champions.” The departure came about organically, according to guitarist and vocalist Jake Orrall. It happened by extended jams at their newly built – yet modest and primitive – home studio. “The idea was just to jam for six months, and not write anything until we were all set up and ready to hit record. Whatever happened was going to happen, and we’d figure it out as we went…this was all born out of not having any goal in mind in terms of sound. A lot of the songs are cut-up jams that we put overdubs on,” Orrall said. After repeated listens, I recommend listening in sequential order and straight through. The Orrall Brothers (Jake and Jamin) are joined by The Greenhornes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather bassist Jack Lawrence, and multi-instrumentalist Kunal Prakash, in addition to Reece Lazarus of Bully on saxophone and clarinet skronk. Perhaps the most poignant and powerful contributions come from guest vocals by Jenna Moynihan (of Nashville’s Daddy Issues).
“Magick Songs” is available Friday, September 7 via Dine Alone as a digital download (your choice of high quality MP3, FLAC and more), on compact disc, and on vinyl. Two vinyl versions are available: the first is limited to 1000 and pressed on pink vinyl, and the second is the standard run of black. Both vinyl versions are double LPs and include a 19-minute vinyl-only bonus track “Many Moons”. Recommended for fans of Oh Sees, CAN, Hawkwind, Natural Child, King Tuff, or even some of the traditional Indonesian Gamelan music that inspired the jam sessions.
Jon E. Lynch[email protected]
