REVIEW: Jim James - "Regions of Light and Sound of God"

Jim James - Regions of Light and Sound of God

Record Label - ATO

Release Date - Feb. 5, 2013

There's something unquestionably pretentious about Jim James.  Here's a game: find the corniest word that you can and see how many times he uses it on his new album Regions of Light and Sound of God, one of the most inflated album titles ever.  There's more "stardust" when you're near?  Really?  More stardust?  What the fuck does that mean? James' slide toward the incomprehensible is not a new thing.  We could all feel the sands shifting underneath us with MMJ's Evil Urges.  So, there was only one big question I had to answer with the release of James's solo debut:  would this be my morning breaking point?

Sentimentality has been one of the strengths of James' songwriting.  All the way back when MMJ was an alt-country outfit, their most successful tracks were dripping with a grand naiveté -- see "I Will Be There When You Die" or "Heartbreakin' Man."  So, it's obvious that when left to his own devices, James would play up what he does best by merging intriguing instrumentation with his own hackneyed and haughty brand of songwriting.  The second big change from the James of MMJ to the James of the "Sound of God" is losing any pretensions of roots sounds.  This record, along with Ducktails' The Flower Lane, are the foremost examples of the re-Todd Rundgren-ization of music.  Both James and Ducktails sound like they've been holed up in a studio somewhere twiddling knobs till they get that perfect 70s singer-producer sound.  God knows how they did it, but it works and like gang busters on both of these records.  "Dear One" outshines the ponderous absurdity and anti-climatic songwriting of the album's opener "State of the Art (A, E, I, O, U)" if for no other reason than the fantastic production and instrumentation.  "Of the Mother Again" is another highlight where James merges the right instrumentation for a surprisingly evocative track.  But, needless to say, if you're coming at this looking for mammoth guitar solos or some wink, wink take on a country track, look elsewhere.  "Actress" has more in common with AM Gold than it does with It Still Moves.

Though, in all fairness, I have to ask -- if you were looking at James to return to a pre Z sound, where have you been?  If nothing else has become clear in the past few MMJ albums, it's that James' vision has overridden everything else in the band.  Is it really fair to call this a solo-album?  Haven't the last two (if not more) MMJ albums been more or less solo?  Yet, there is something that feels much more solitary here.  James has cast himself in a prophetic role and accompanied himself with what seems like sample-machines.  You can get the image of him on tracks like "Know Till Now" with his cape, a jumpsuit, a disco-ball and a bunch of mirror balls flashing every which way dancing alone on the stage.  If there is one thing that seems to have gone on this record it's the even pretense that James needs anyone else to do what he wants to do on Sound of God it's all him, for better or worse.

I'm not trying to be overly pessimistic or even degrading.  I love Elliott Smith and God knows that guy was probably an asshole perfectionist in the studio insisting on a singularity of vision that excluded just about everyone else.  What bothers me about James doing it is that, well, he never seemed to be that way prior to MMJ's latest, subpar output, and this record.  If anything, there was a way in which having to battle, struggle, and fight with his bandmates made James better.  In Sound of God he's left to his own devices which, I'm afraid, appear more arrogant than substantial.  "I  Will Be There When You Die" asserts commitment and dedication beyond the grave; Sound of God implies that you've got an extra-sensory connection to the Almighty.  At least James has backed it up with some first rate production and instrumentation, but the substance is glaringly thin despite a self-proclaimed evangelicalism.