My Morning Jacket is currently taking a break in 2018, but frontman Jim James is clearly staying busy with his own agenda. Following the release of Tribute To 2 in December of 2017—in which he played tribute to The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and more—Jim James is currently promoting his newest album, Uniform Distortion, due out on June 28 via ATO Records.
Uniform Distortion—which got its name “because [Jim James] feels like there is this blanket distortion on society/media and the way we gather our ‘news’ and important information”—contains 11 tracks penned by Jim James and features Floating Action bassist Seth Kauffman and drummer Dave Givan along with Kathleen Grace, Jamie Drake, and Leslie Stevens of LA trio Dear Lemon Trees on backing vocals. Following the release of “Just A Fool”, Jim James released a second single today, “Throwback”. Listen below via jimjamesVEVO:
Jim James – “Throwback”
As Jim James explains in a press release:
“I wrote this song doing pretty much what you are probably doing right at this very second: scrolling thru social media. It struck me as SO wild – how, as you scroll back in time through someone’s account, you watch their face grow younger…but as you do this, REAL TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!! The clock is ticking…instead of doing good work or creating love or taking a walk in nature, I am here STARING AT MY FUCKING PHONE!!!! ha ha ha. Don’t get me wrong – social media is an amazing tool…but I think we should look at it more like a tool, like a hammer you pick up for a little while to do a job, and then you PUT IT DOWN. You don’t sit there and keep hammering away or else pretty soon your entire world would be destroyed and fall apart! And I feel like that is exactly what is happening right before our very eyes to this precious real beautiful human-filled earth. So lets WAKE EACH OTHER UP PEOPLE! Lets stand up against injustice and use this tool of social media to fight for peace and love and equality! Let’s throwback for a minute, but try and live in the NOW for a better future. Thanks for listening.
Read Jim James’ original explanation of the full album here.
Recently, Jim James stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to perform “Just A Fool”. You can watch that performance here.
Jim James Upcoming Concerts
JUNE 21 – GREEK THEATRE BERKELEY (with Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters)
JULY 18 – PICO UNION LA (Uniform Distortion w/ Full Band)