Multifaceted rock and roll/folk musician Jack White, born Josh Gillis, is releasing his second full solo album, Lazaretto, this coming June. Lazaretto was the “Worlds Fastest Released Record”, taking Jack White only three hours and 55 minutes to record. A few songs off of the album have already been released, giving fans a peek into what they may expect from the rest of the much anticipated album.
After The White Stripes, a duo consisting of White and his former- wife, Meg White, separated in 2011, White embarked on a solo career and released his album, Blunderbluss, in 2012. While he was part of The White Stripes, he and Meg (both of whom claimed they were actually siblings for a while) seemed to sing to each other. Their working off of one another gave their music a harmonic dimension that balanced the intensity of the instrumentation.
White’s unaccompanied pieces demonstrate however, that he has adapted well to being a solo artist. White’s first solo album has a similar style to that of The White Stripes albums. The grungy, rock and roll sound that was typical of songs produced by his previous band is maintained and Jack’s complicated character and views on the world are further evident in his work. Fans of the Cold War Kids, The Black Lips and The Black Keys will appreciate his music.
The artist’s solo work asserts itself to the listener, it has the desire to be heard and heard loudly. After considering working on TV car commercial shoots before forming his band, Jack himself said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine,
“I could see that it was impossible to get your ideas across [in commercial shoots], with all the people — the soundman, lighting people, producers — you had to go through . . . I suppose that put me in the direction of a two-piece band.”
Jack White’s music has a guttural quality and an ability to evoke his anger with strength while maintaining a hip casualness that makes the listener feel empowered and cool. White appears disenchanted with the world in many of his songs; his voice protests, almost screaming at times, but the sound never feels over the top. Listeners may listen to song after song, the basic style unchanging but still easy to jam to with catchy and melodic choruses, grinding electric guitar riffs and drum beats that give his work an energetic pulse. Sometimes, it’s fun to be angry.
Lazaretto, the pre-released song on the upcoming album (also entitled Lazaretto), arouses a similar embitterment and suggests that Jack White will continue to explore this theme in his coming album. This is not to say, however, that White’s songs become redundant. There are many layers to White’s character, reflected in his unusual, if not bizarre, lyrics that prove he is as talented a songwriter as musician.
His lyrics are uniquely descriptive and at times may even seem absurd. It is because of this writing style however that White can so effectively turn everyday events, and life itself, into a farce.
His lyrics also reflect many perspectives and are often quite philosophical.
“In all my songs, I take on roles and play characters. It’s a unique way to explore ideas and decisions I might not think or make in real life,” White said in an interview with Relevant magazine.
In Lazaretto White sings “My veins are blue and connected and every single bone in my brain is electric, but I dig ditches like the best of ‘em . . . And even God herself has fewer plans than me, but she never helps me out when my scan’s for free, though she grabs a stick and then she pokes it at me.”
It is interesting that White describes God as being female, something that is rarely, if ever, done in lyrics. It is particularly interesting because White himself wanted to be a priest before turning to music as a career, and religion still plays an important role in his life,
“My roots are Catholic by default. I can take elements from Buddhism or other religions and see the similarities and differences in those, and learn from those, but at the end of the day, I don’t care as much about man’s interpretation of religion. What I care about is what God tells me directly, ”he said in the same Relevant magazine interview.
Jack White is, as his music reflects, an eccentric and mysterious individual as well as performer.
He will be going on tour this summer from late May until the beginning of August.
