It’s rare that I hold a memory of the first time I listened to an album (especially one I listen to often), but I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Everything Under the Sun, Jukebox the Ghost’s sophomore album, for the first time. I remember the feeling of excitement that came as I cycled through each new track. That might feel like a lot to live up to with the third album coming out now, but JtG did not disappoint.
To be fair, I already knew I was in for a treat after attending the band’s secret show at Rockwood Music Hall last month, but it’s still a different experience listening to an album in the order intended. A lot of people disregard this, especially with the introduction of the iPod shuffle and the like, but I always judge an album by its entire package. One of the things I have always loved about JtG is that they do not ignore this factor, even having some tracks flow directly into others. The example of that on Safe Travels is “Devils On Our Side/All For Love,” a beautiful and haunting song that will hit your insides in places you didn’t know existed.
While some elements of the band’s sound are similar to the older days, there have been some developments as well. There’s still fun piano pop, but with more electronic sounds added in some songs for a more eclectic sound. Other songs, such as “At Last,” are more like the pure piano driven songs you might remember from the first album Let Live and Let Ghosts. Then there’s their coda, “The Spiritual,” which is unlike anything they’ve done before. I could go on for pages, because the new album is really quite fantastic. I think my favorite, however, is going to be “Adulthood“. When played live, Ben introduces it as a song about how you can survive childhood and adolescence, but “from Adulthood, no one survives”. It’s a song about life that hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it because of how much I could relate. (Being 23 with no idea of where life is going to take you will do that). Really that’s what this band does with their music, though. It puts together a lot of really powerful and meaningful words and finds the music to match (when they’re not singing about the end of the world). That is what makes them special and has given them the edge to gain the level of success they have. It’s also why I’m sure this is just another step in a very long musical journey.
“Safe Travels” is available for iTunes pre-order today, and will be officially released June 12, 2012. The sold out album release is at Bowery Ballroom on June 22nd. A complete list of tour dates can be found on their website.
