Gary Clark Jr. – JPEG Raw
Warner
When he emerged within the early 2010s, Gary Clark Jr. was anointed a real guitar god—he even earned comparisons to maybe the best of all time, Jimi Hendrix. However over a decade later, the 40-year-old continues to be proving that he’s way more than a virtuoso. Together with his fourth album, JPEG Raw, the Austin native continues to stretch out musically—broadening expectations and leaving few genres unexplored.
The most important shock, although, is the relative ease with which he inhabits so many kinds. On the soulful “Alone Collectively,” that includes jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, Clark all of the sudden turns into a modern-day chanteur, replete with falsetto crooning: “You say you’re mistreated / You don’t assume I understand how you are feeling / You query, I push again / You don’t assume my love is for actual.” Elsewhere, the title observe conjures an impressed collaboration between D’Angelo and the late J. Dilla (a noted influence)—as Clark truly spits bars.
This newest LP, Clark says, was born out of pandemic uncertainty—from Black Lives Matter to the rebellion of the nation’s capitol. “This Is Who We Are” (that includes Naala) feeds off that confusion, opening with a galvanizing guitar solo that blazes behind some operatic prophecies. What you hear is the catharsis of Clark’s pent-up anger over these blemishes in our nation’s material: “I believe I’m not who you assume you thought I used to be / Actually got here up from the underside, got here up from the mud / I stroll by means of the valley in the long run / Higher examine your ego, come once more.”
JPEG Raw is Clark’s manifesto; co-producing and writing (or co-writing) the entire music, he as soon as once more demonstrates his proficiency on a number of devices (drums, bass, percussion, programming, varied keyboards). He additionally gathers a slew of collaborators—notably his sisters Shanan, Shawn, and Savannah, on background vocals, together with a number of visitor artists, together with two veritable icons. For “Funk Witch U,” Clark enlists the godfather of funk himself, George Clinton, who easily leans into the laid-back, bass-heavy groove. He additionally finds an impressed pairing with Stevie Surprise on “What Concerning the Kids,” drawing closely from the latter’s prolific oeuvre between 1972 and 1976.
Taking his cue from predecessors like Clinton, Surprise, and Prince—consummate artists who defied style and charted their very own musical course—Clark relishes in his boundless freedom. His virtuosity all through is commendable and infrequently fairly spectacular. Thematically, he traverses an odyssey of battle and unrest to finally attain newfound knowledge, particularly apropos as a husband and father of three. What’s lacking is the cohesion: Whereas particular person tracks stand nicely alone, sharp sonic contrasts drain the album of momentum.
Clark is a uncommon, prodigious expertise—defying boundaries whereas preserving the custom in his taking part in. Gifted Black artists are far too usually pigeonholed, boxed right into a style and id that at instances appears immovable. Maybe JPEG RAW marks a brand new starting for Clark. However throughout the album’s many shifts in fashion, one notion reverberates loudest: This technology’s preeminent bluesman was born to play the guitar, whether or not he likes it or not. – GRADE: B+
Extra from Spin:
- ‘Family, Y’all’: Gary Clark Jr., Marcus King Rock SPIN Show at Emo’s
- SPIN And Stand Together Music Present Gary Clark Jr. Live In Austin
- Gary Clark Jr. Snags Stevie Wonder, George Clinton For New LP
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