Title: Jack Eden
Artist: Jack Eden
Release Date: 2014 June 30
Genre: Indie Pop
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Label: We Were Never Being Boring
Introduction
Today we have the first solo release from Giacomo Stolzini from Brothers In Law. While Giacomo is known for his guitar work, Jack Eden goes straight on to keyboards and drum machines instead, So, how does this work out for Giacomo as Jack Eden?
Jack Eden Goes Straight On
The approach of this release to electronic keyboards is very basic, stripped down lo-fi in style. The percussion is a mixture of drum machines and acoustic drums. The overall sound is so reverb saturated you think you are listening to a performance inside a cave. It could be best summarized by thinking of it as The Postal Service meets Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound, stripped of all the extravagant arrangements.
In fact, even the style of the compositions bear the hallmarks of the 1960’s, such as ‘Forever Forever’ which sounds like a slow-dance ballad you might have heard at a high school prom in the 1960’s. All of the tracks on this release are typified by strong rhythms, while being tinged with psychedelia and melancholy.
While the songs on this release have been produced with a lo-fi 1960’s style, nothing about the songs themselves is minimal. Each track is focused and well structured pop with all the hooks that we’ve come to expect from the 1960’s, and even a few modern twists.
Conclusion
At less than 15 minutes in length, this five track EP from Giacomo feels like a bit of an experiment. Find a set of sonic attributes that were worth exploring these songs were realized to prove the concept, and explore some of the possibilities of the style. The good part is: it works, and it works well. The bad part is, it’s only 15 minutes. But, even so, it’s still a worthwhile listen. Hopefully Jack Eden will go straight on to produce a full album length release in the future.