Jack Jeffery :: The Constant That Remains

Jack Jeffery follows up his debut, Passage to Agadir, with The Constant That Remains, a more consistent outing of that same laid back vibe, but with a stronger focus start to finish. Constant has as much variety as Agadir, but with the cuts transitioning more comfortably in and out of each other giving it that much more momentum.

Constant’s tinge of  mellow electronics keep it in the here and now, though Jeffery makes no bones about tipping his hat to Floyd, The Beatles, Alan Parsons… he injects them into his own tunes, pulling that constant along and through. For those who recoil in fear of  music embracing some form of  ’prog,’ thinking a requirement for gold sequined capes (which I fully advocate) is unshakable, Jeffery mines a more singer/songwriter take on it keeping the bloat to a minimum and making the project more personal. The variety between the likes of Gavotte for African Steel Guitar, the Gilmour conjuring The Sirius Wall  or the laid back drift of Rearranged keep Constant floating without going adrift. Valencian Cosmos starts to lift off a bit higher in a heavily electronic arch before Ascendancy pulses into a dense final chug. Carry On mines part of a rolling golden Alan Parsons vibe to branch out to a long close.

Jeffery checks a lot of influences and touchstones, but he maintains his voice throughout. That’s made even more clear by the fact that Jeffery handles everything himself. For as well layered as it all is together though, it would be interesting to hear Jeffery and his music handled by a full band. In either situation, real or imagined, Jeffery is the constant that…remains. A great follow-up to a strong debut, The Constant That Remains is self-released by Jeffery and is available at CDBaby and the other constants.

The Sirius Wall :: Jack Jeffery :: The Constant That Remains (2012, Jack Jeffery)

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