CD of The Week

Singer Joe Newman, frontman for British indie rocker Alt-J (IYDK: the old Apple keyboard function for the Greek symbol Delta “Δ,” meaning change), interpreted his own life-changing experiences as a hint to venture out on his own. Using an old online handle as his solo project name, JJerome87, Newman has recorded a personally inspired solo project; a manifest destiny of sorts, bringing elements of his life together on a delightfully cinematic collection of songs.

The Canyon and its cover art showcase the two main influential changes in his life. On it, he is surrounded by his current adopted landscape (California: the Good Will Hunting white house & album namesake Canyon Coffee are both near the recording studio, plus we see local coyotes, indigenous vegetation, and an iconic desert backdrop) and his daughter, Myola, now 5 years old. In fact, the sentimental slow dance of “Two Hearts” on the album is literally about his partner’s pregnancy spawning the growth of their family. It starts with audio from the doctor during their ultrasound and peppers in personal home recordings that follow the child’s growth from cooing to toddler talk. You could picture the song nostalgically played in the background of a tearful daddy-daughter dance sometime in the future.

The album utilizes soundscapes that capture the vibe of a California lifestyle from an outsider’s perspective, similarly to how Honus Honus of Man Man moved to L.A. and released his Cali-inspired solo record back in 2016. Alt-J, as a group, uses minimal elements and empty space to convey bare-bones melodies and cinematically danceable music. So, it is no surprise the same formula is deployed here, especially when four of the 11 tracks, all singles, feature the Alt-J team. Three of them; the slow, sedated western lounger “Green Velvet,” the ranch-friendly soap opera “Brush Me Like a Horse,” and the poppy campfire bop “Track and Field,” could be used to score California set pieces and scenes. Elsewhere, “Quaaludes” enhances the laid-back west coast vibe as a breezy, medicated, slow-motion drive through the desert, like a Hunter S. Thompson trip. The lonesome range cowboy whistle is used to initiate the sleepy groove of “Juicy.” But the standout track, “Walkway Music,” literally breaks away from the Alt-J song formula. It’s a conventional two-and-a-half-minute pop song with rollicking melody, catchy hooks, and marching drums. But it still holds onto the So Cal vibes by filtering the tune through a spaghetti western lens.

It would be neglectful not to mention that southern Americana bluesy rock, Motown melodies, and hipster gospel also infiltrate the record, as seen with the opening schoolyard chant of “Mr. Alligator:" the fourth single written with Alt-J members. The inclusion of three powerful backing vocalists, Princess Fortier, Alisha Roney, and Felice LaZae, authenticate the genres, and are applied sporadically-yet-knowingly, like a secret weapon.

The album winds down with a trip back home to Northern England, with a nostalgic, dreamy track employing the highland mountain range “Pennine" as its backdrop. Perhaps the least California-fied song, it offers longing and a promise of eventual return to what’s familiar and true. For fans of Newman’s band, this record may come as an alternate reality Alt-J, if he had complete direction over the group. But this exercise was necessary for Newman, and he will come back to the group evolved, bringing enriching ideas that will make the group, like any relationship, evolve together.