NEW RELEASE: Paul Jacks' Full Length LP "Amphibious" Coming Out 03/03/2023!!!
NEW RELEASE: Paul Jacks' Full Length LP "Amphibious" Coming Out 03/03/2023!!!
For almost twenty years Paul Jacks has created a unique and challenging sonic landscape, beginning with his work with indie groups Smile Ease and Asteroid and ascending to the critically-acclaimed solo albums Defractor, In Other Words, and Black Jackal. “I’m constantly on a journey of learning, and trying to create a new sound and explore,” says Jacks, who is always determined to “not get pigeon-holed into one genre.”
This artistic restlessness finds its newest release in Jacks’ fourth studio album, Amphibious, in which he shifts direction from the New Wave vibes of In Other Words and the dystopian world of Black Jackal, and embraces change. “There are themes of survival, adaptation, growth, and awareness throughout the album.”
With Black Jackal behind him, Jacks sought a producer so he could “focus on the lyrics and the themes and the emotions.” Enter Alex Newport, the esteemed British-born, L.A.-based producer-composer who has worked with groups like Death Cab for Cutie, Bloc Party, Mars Volta, At the Drive In, Matt Costa, and The Sounds. Having previously worked together on their 2021 dual single “Foolish Pride,” and B-side “I Would Give Everything”, Jacks and Newport connected with their similar New Wave tastes, and Newport liked the demos which eventually became Amphibious.
Unlike Black Jackal, for which all the individual songs were completed before Jacks ever stepped into the studio, several songs for Amphibiouswere not. He was encouraged by Newport to write into form, i.e., he wrote, rewrote, and improved songs during the actual process of recording. “It was risky,” Jacks admits. “Because in the end you don’t necessarily have time to go, ‘Okay, I’m not happy with this one, let’s try and and put a new one in.’”
Among the songs created during this process was the single “Amphibious” itself, which Jacks originally began writing on guitar. Jacks ventured back to his original instrument to complete it on the piano, acquiring more depth of sound and feeling. It also connected to themes of adaptation and rebirth that Jacks had been exploring, and ultimately became the centerpiece of the album’s nine tracks.
With Newport taking over heavy-lifting duties as producer, Jacks focused on writing and the results reflect his expansive, eclectic tastes. “If I Were a Better Man,” for example, captures the sad, dark remains of a failed relationship left behind only by “captions” which leave you alone and defeated. By contrast, “My Love Has to Ask” is a deliberate, affectionate effort to make a Motown-like pop song, not only with its long, “Love”-centered title, but with a bassline groove provided by producer Newport himself.
On “Left in Haste,” Jacks creates organic space within the song, resulting in “a kind of free-flowing stream of consciousness” in which the chorus and verse are virtually indiscernible. “Walk on Five” incorporates numerology, using five as the number of power, strength, spiritual growth, humanity, and imagination.
Production on Amphibious lasted from mid-June to mid-July 2022; in addition to Newport on bass, the Amphibious team included Jason Searle and Leo Abrahams on additional guitars; Dylan Mandel on drums; and Alexis Mahler on strings. Jacks’ and Newport’s exacting work extended to vocals, leading to a soft and lulling approach which suggests what might have happened if Phil Spector had had the chance to work with Joy Division.
“When you finish up a project, there’s this empty void that is kind of sad,” says Jacks about completing Amphibious. “I really didn’t want it to end.” Moving forward, Jacks anticipates working with producers on more album projects. Amphibious will be available on all streaming platforms, as well as in a limited edition special vinyl which will be able to be purchased at the Tritone store: www.tritonerecords.net later on in 2023.
"Rather than trying to be daringly futuristic with untried themes that could crash and burn if timed against a volatile culture like that of 2020, Jacks is digging into the history of alternative rock to find inspiration in the corners of synth pop and new wave artistry many have long abandoned in recent times – only he’s adding a twist."
"Contradictions are always inviting in this genre, but duality is something that turns the deepest of underground players into icons virtually overnight."
"With the release of his explosive, retro-synthy, sonically intricate and vocally hypnotic apocalypse/aftermath concept album Black Jackal, Anchorage based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Paul Jacks is quickly becoming the indie pop world’s most engaging purveyor of the classic A-side/B-side aesthetic that was once the norm in the rock era."
"Black Jackal is a very stimulating listen even after it’s been put on the stereo a couple of times through, and I don’t believe you’re likely to find another album of its kind in 2020. In short, if you weren’t watching this artist before his new LP, you will be very soon."
"In a year that has celebrated anxiety and stress like few others in recent memory, the ultra-surreal tendencies of an LP lie this one come to audiophiles as soul food for the tired mind – an exodus away from the conventionality of mundane melodic pop..."
" ‘Black Jackal’, keeping to Jacks’ style, harks back to the 80s, and the laid back rock style favoured by the likes of Joy Division / New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, Yazoo, and Interpol."
"... the term alternative music still means something in 2020, but it's only because of the independent element represented so breathtakingly well by records like this one."
"Deep in thought for and through his art, Paul Jacks utilizes his influences of literature , he focuses passions for writers by J.G Ballard, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick, to dig deep into the possibilities of philosophy, psychology, mythology, and alchemy"
“Black Jackal isn’t the kind of album that you put on in the background while you work. It demands your attention and requires the kind of deep listening that rarely happens anymore."
"...he’s an alternative legend in the making, much like his heroes before him, and in adapting historical sonic virtues to meet the needs of a millennial audience, he secures a permanent place in my heart as a critic and music fan."
"The backdrop for the album is an apocalyptic world and its aftermath. That dark, dire feel is apparent on “Black Jackal.”
“The Hunger, is a smooth and eerie track that takes us right onto the dance floor as Jacks sings “I feel the hunger tonight / Got my blood to a boil / Will you cure me somehow?/ Before I imitate”
"Jacks has an uncanny ability to use just the right synth sounds and melodies to get such a perfectly genuine 80's aesthetic that it gives you the warm and fuzees."
"A synth-pop/synthwave gem by Paul jacks… Back to the 80s! "
"Jacks channels the best of the 80s British invasion on ‘Foolish Pride’ (he even mentions 1981 in the lyrics), as he takes a step out of himself, making a very personal and quite introspective observation on the pitfalls of Pride."
"Låten fick mig att tänka på Johnny Marr och Bernard Sumners projekt Electronic, vilket såklart är en bra sak. Eller vad säger du?"
"Right from the opening beat, “All The Rage” has a distinct vibe that is a mix of classic New Order rhythms with a Morrissey like croon and sway from Paul Jacks. This 80’s jolt will bring back the days when OMD, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys were radio staples while the song itself is a socially conscious challenge of all the anger and violence in the world."
“Shy Boy is Disco Pop and while there is Beatles-formed-in-the-70s flowing from a lo-fi synth foundation, I get a bit of early OMD from it. Rising and falling into and out of majors an minors, the song has a shimmy born in a brightly colored room, but an underlying longing."
"...synth-master Paul Jacks is bringing us six dynamic new songs as three A/B sided singles, each with its own distinctive artwork."
"...Paul Jacks is taking a completely different approach to this album and producing something that is monolithic, melodic, and most of all, mightily addictive even after a only a single spin."
"I loved the overall vibrancy, the bright grooves, atmospheric melodies and soaring production values."
"Beneath the cosmetically gorgeous surface, In Other Words is a sterling songbook of effervescence and experimentation, and it’s easily one of my favorite albums hitting record stores this month."
"Too Emotional is one of those multi-layered songs that causes you to pause and analyse it; to decipher the distinct layers, and to think about where you’ve heard it before. It’s at once new and familiar at the same time: it’s retro and modern; upbeat and yet covering deep subject matter."
"... on Paul Jacks' In Other Words-it is a musically effervescent release to my ears that contains new rewards with each new hearing."
"Gorgeously wrought, In Other Words delivers contagious energy and alluring blends of nu-wave colors, along with Paul Jacks’ alluring voice."
"I was only recently introduced to the music of Paul Jacks, but I’m already head over heels for what he’s doing in this latest release. Defractor, his first album, had all the trappings of a perfect debut, and the blueprint that its tracklist set forth is definitely expanded upon in this record"
"The ten songs comprising the album wrestle with intense emotions and subject matter but the light Jacks spies at the end of the song cycle is not an oncoming train but, instead, a better tomorrow."
"He’s got an organic talent that comes on overwhelmingly strong in pretty much every track here, and it’s something that I would love to hear more of in another release. I’ll be keeping an eye on his progress in the next few years, and once you’ve listened to In Other Words this August, I think you’ll want to as well."
"Talk about a quick turnaround! A mere six months after the release of his Defractor LP, Alaska’s Paul Jacks announces In Other Words for an August release, again on the Tritone Records label."
"Inspired by the 1993 film of the same name, “Fire in the Sky” features shimmering synths that sound straight out of season 1 of Stranger Things. Much like the movie, the track deals with a loss of innocents; Jacks sings “I was just a boy/too young to be sure how much of me died that night” over the mid-tempo rock groove."
"Golden synthesized melodies meet gritty and provocatively stylized lyricism in Paul Jacks’ debut solo album Defractor, which hits..."
" Sizzling strands of synthesized melody greet us in “Laid to Rest,” the opening song in Paul Jacks’ new album Defractor..."
" Fusing 80s Goth indulgences with bright melodies and contemporary pop song structures, Paul Jacks invokes a..."
"...Brilliantly produced and slickly arranged for fans of both mainstream and underground pop/rock..."
"...A dexterous, spidery rhythm wallops us with muscular, bass-heavy swing that is derived purely from old school..."
"...and his vivid imagery delivers the listener directly into his dark world themes."
"From start to finish, it’s a delightfully, synth and electronic beat swirling mindbender of a trip back to the spirited, seemingly simpler times when Gary Numan, OMD, Joy Division, Tears for Fears and Nile Rodgers era Bowie held court on the pop charts."
"Jacks takes heavy influence from 80’s new wave and goth, along with his personal struggles to craft the album."
"There’s a hope and a melancholy in the song, as Jack’s baritone casts emotion around as he steers it along, the melodies memorable but almost weary, wary of the emotion that surrounds it."
" Paul Jacks embarks on a perilous journey to make his way back home in..."
"...Equally fascinating and affecting, this pairing of sight and sound..."
" Swirls of spilling colors radiate from the synths, as Jacks’ dreamy ..."
Copyright © 2023 Tritone Records - All Rights Reserved.
Contact Bill, Nelson and the radio and PR team at Team Clermont
http://teamclermont.com/, Email: bill@teamclermont.com or nelsonwells@teamclermont.com