Early James - Strange Time To Be Alive

26-08-2022

Fredrick James Mullis Jr. (born June 2, 1993), known professionally as Early James, is an American singer-songwriter. He is signed onto studio-label Easy Eye Sound, the studio-label of Black Keys' guitarist Dan Auerbach. James was inspired in his tweens by Hank Williams Sr. and later by grunge and alternative rock bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana. His years writing and performing in Birmingham, Alabama expanded the genres he wrote in to include bluegrass, folk and alt-country. James has been compared to Tom Waits and has referred to the musician as one of his inspirations, along with Fiona Apple. His lyrics are often dark but with a sardonic sense of humor, dealing with such themes as depression, addiction, and relationships. According to the New York Times, James' "melodies hesitate and evade the beat; his lyrics move via moody free association, not the direct narratives of most Americana." James' voice is distinct, described by The New York Times as "tattered and nervous, with a grainy quaver." Round Hill Music states that his voice comprises "a century's worth of American barkers and crooners, from Alan Lomax field recordings to mid-century iconoclasts like Billy Holliday and Howlin Wolf to ghostly late-century interpreters like Fiona Apple and Tom Waits." The stage name of wry and soulful Alabama singer/songwriter Frederick James Mullis Jr., Early James draws from a deep well of American roots music. Backed by upright bassist Adrian Marmolejo, James' expressive voice and stripped-down blend of Southern blues, country, folk, and jazz evokes Jason Isbell by way of early Tom Waits and Harry Chapin. Early James released his first album, "Singing for My Supper", just as the world slid into the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, so if any singer/songwriter has cause to claim that it's a "Strange Time to Be Alive", the pointed title of his second album, it's him. To his credit, he winds up delivering on the promise of his title, conjuring ghosts of the American South with his stylized soul and poetry, a combination that can suggest Tom Waits in his beatnik poet prime crossed with a blues troubadour. This heightened Americana is quite appealing, especially in the hands of producer Dan Auerbach, who lets the ballads be painterly and gives the shambling numbers a colorful quality, letting Early James growl against guitar grit and thickened thump in the rhythms. At nearly an hour, "Strange Time to Be Alive" does indeed have a tendency to wander and linger, a characteristic that can be mildly maddening but also is ingratiatingly eccentric. Perhaps Early James can recall such inspirations as Waits, but the way he assembles American myths and music has an idiosyncratic signature that only sounds stronger and more authoritative with repeat listens. Alabama's native son, Early James, release his sophomore album, "Strange Time To Be Alive". The lyrical wordsmith conjures the ghosts of great southern gothic writers from Eudora Welty to William Faulkner, while channeling the haunted spirits of Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt. The album evokes a timeless amalgam of forsaken blues, wistful folk, and Tin Pan Alley crooning, anchored by the singer's unmistakable voice that sways from gravel-filled shouts to pained, forlorn whispers and songs that tread in the waters of darkly themed broken hearts, with the wry humour of the sad clown. Early James' debut was unfortunately snowballed by the first lockdowns of the corona pandemic, but with his second album the musician from Alabama shows that he is a unique talent with an old soul. speakers come and you are almost immediately enchanted by the special voice of the American musician. Early James is still in his twenties, but impresses on his second album with a remarkably raw, lived and soulful throat. It is a voice that feels like a fish in water on the album dominated by southern roots music, which can cover a wide area. Top producer Dan Auerbach is just the right man for an album like this, because Early James' music sounds decades old, but definitely not dated. His debut should have made him world famous, but this album should do that. With the release of a debut album you always have to be lucky. It is always questionable whether the international music press will pick a newcomer's album, which in turn largely depends on the other releases in a week. The debut album of Frederick James Mullis Jr., better known by his stage name Early James, was released on March 13, 2020. It was certainly not a very busy day in terms of new releases, but it was the day when in the Netherlands and in a number of other European countries. a lockdown was declared for the first time due to the rapidly advancing corona virus. Early James' "Singing For My Supper" snowballed through all the attention for the virus, which would keep us busy for quite some time, unfortunately a bit under or even completely under. In any case, I can't recall ever reading anything about the album, so Early James' debut completely escaped my attention. With the release of "Strange Time To Be Alive" this week, it is time for reparation. Early James' second album is my first foray into the American musician's music and it's one that hit like the proverbial sledgehammer blow. Early James won't be celebrating his thirtieth birthday until next year, but he sounds like an old soul on "Strange Time To Be Alive". The musician from Birmingham, Alabama, grew up with American roots music from the south of the United States and can cover a remarkably wide field within this genre. Early James' second album contains a lot of influences from blues and soul, but can also handle jazz, country, swampock and some more obscure roots genres from the deep south of the United States. You can hear that Early James sounds like an old soul in the musical influences he incorporates, but you especially hear it in his voice. It's a voice that sounds decades older than the Alabama musician's 29 springs. It is a voice with a lot of grit on the vocal cords and a lot of persistence, which here and there sounds like a young Bob Dylan with a good dose of soul from Alabama. The vocals alone make "Strange Time To Be Alive" a fascinating album, but the album also sounds great. Early James' second album has a brooding and muddy sound, in which the guitar work in particular draws attention time and again. "Strange Time To Be Alive" betrays the hand of a producer who knows exactly how an album like this should sound and that producer found Early James in the person of Dan Auerbach, who also produced the debut album of the Alabama musician and Early James also offered a contract with his own label. Early James can sing beautifully languidly, but when Sierra Ferrell stirs him up in the fantastic duet 'Real Low Down Lonesome', he takes the notes and the feeling out of his toes. Dan Auerbach's predilection for retro is well known, but I would call Early James' music above all timeless. "Strange Time To Be Alive" takes you right from the first notes into the deep south of the United States and effortlessly keeps you there for 45 minutes. Everyone who knows his debut has known it for a long time, but what a great talent this Early James is.

1 Racing To A Red Light 4:24

2 Straightjacket For Two 3:50

3 My Sweet Camelia 3:35

4 Pigsty 4:11

5 What A Strange Time To Be Alive 3:06

6 Real Low Down Lonesome Featuring [Duet W/] - Sierra Ferrell 4:29

7 Harder To Blame 4:06

8 If Heaven Is A Hotel 3:08

9 Splenda Daddy 3:05

10 Dance In The Fire 3:51

11 Wasted And Wanting 3:21

12 Something For Nothing 3:12