New Releases: My Morning Jacket

No artist this deep into their career should be releasing records this good. (Ok, don't tell that to Yo La Tengo.) But the pithily-titled Is continues My Morning Jacket's run of solid, occasionally transcendent records as they enter their second quarter-century. 

Opener "Out In The Open" is pretty much your trademark MMJ track--a slow, stripped down ballad, each instrument gradually joining, steadily building momentum until it breaks into a full-on fist-pumping anthem, melodic and sonically rich. The sort of track you just know will explode when they take it on the road.

Other tracks are at least as notable. "Half A Lifetime" is a staccato, jagged rocker that sounds like latter-day Flaming Lips, a little jarring but exciting. "Lemme Know" is a rollicking sing-along that begs to be cranked up at the gym. The gorgeous "Time Waited" captures the band's love of 70s soul-tinged tunes, pretty piano trills and emotional croons with a big, boomy chorus, an optimistic anthem at a time when god knows we need one. And "Everyday Magic" kinda blends all of the above into a catchy little stew.

To be fair, some of the rest may be less distinctive on the first few spins, as can happen on many of the band's records, sounding great but not necessarily rising above the pack. Still, not hard to imagine some of these cuts shining in concert, as they remain one of the best live bands currently on the planet.

Buy it on Bandcamp.

"Out In The Open":

"Lemme Know":

"Half A Lifetime":

"Time Waited":