My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
(ATO)
My Morning Jacket’s fifth release Evil Urges shows the band moving away from the country-rock of It Still Moves and into more of Z’s experimentation. The songs sound more structured and less jam-based. Gone (for the most part) is the reverb vocal which has almost become a trademark. In recent interviews, singer/songwriter Jim James referenced soul influences (particularly Prince) and it shows with the falsetto on the title track and “Highly Suspicious,” while “Thank You Too!” has a Van Morrison, blue-eyed soul feel. “I’m Amazed” questions what James sees as his country. Evil Urges shows MMJ moving forward and together as a band.
—Aaron Hartling
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2008.