Ten years since Blunderbuss, Jack White has now been releasing solo albums for longer than he was recording with The White Stripes. Despite his reliance on a limited palette of instruments, the 47-year-old has had a more varied career than most, and long-term followers will have a favourite guise, whether it’s bluesy and basic in The White Stripes, appealingly melodic in The Raconteurs or even stepping back to bash the drums in The Dead Weather.
As a solo act he has tried a bit of everything, even touring with two alternating backing bands, one male and one female. This year he’s made it easiest to pick a side, releasing two very different albums months apart. Fear of the Dawn, from April, was berserk, a hyperactive maelstrom overloaded with so many guitar effects it was as if he could make his instrument talk. It even had a rapper on it: Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest. This companion album, written during the same period, is sensible Jekyll to the other one’s Hyde. An overall feel of calm country folk calls to mind Beck’s frequent shifts between albums of cut-and-paste experiments and richer singer-songwriter fare.
It was already possible to tell what White was up to when he released his comeback single last October, featuring two versions of the same song. Taking Me Back, which was on Fear of the Dawn, is raw and shouty, with guitars rasping like chainsaws. Taking Me Back (Gently), which features here, has a swinging, vintage feel, with a jazzy violin duelling with jaunty piano notes.
There are still odd sonic diversions, but they’re far less extreme than on the predecessor. Queen of the Bees is decorated with dots of marimba and a buzzing organ that sounds a bit like the insect in the title. Help Me Along is dominated by a childlike keyboard line and plodding rhythm, with a dramatic burst of energy in the middle.
Meticulous and serious, and a real virtuoso on his guitar, White isn’t known for his sensitive side. He has described Entering Heaven Alive as his “gentle Sunday morning album”. You might spill your coffee when All Along the Way shifts from its acoustic first half to add a low electric guitar riff, spooky organ and a howled chorus. But the country groove of Please God, Don’t Tell Anyone and the nonsense lyrics and psych-folk vibes of Madman From Manhattan are fine ways to ease into the day.
Recent White albums have been pretty exhausting. This is one to sit with and contemplate. It’s remarkably pleasant company.
