The Adventures Of Aaron Cabott Jones begins as it intends to go on, with the brightness and weight of an infectious and colourful rock track – loaded with reflective lyricism and soaked in emotional truth. Feel It Shine, featuring Russ Richards on bass and production, is a huge track. Whatever your expectations may be when delving into a new project from a solo artist, the detail and depth of this first song will most probably blow those expectations out of the water.
The complexity and developing structure of the piece is captivating, and yet the strength of the melody, and the warmth and power of the music, is satisfying in the way that any great rock track should be. Aaron Cabott Jones knows what works in music and presents it in a creatively exploratory and uniquely personal manner. Not a single moment on this project is rushed, and rightfully so; the time and effort that has gone into the craft – and this album has been a long time coming for the artist – pays off immensely in terms of audience enjoyment.
My influences came from the records I found in the dumpster of our local radio station (WTOD). Singles of Motown, Beatles, Hendrix, Cream, Sly and the family stone… I would get the 45’s out of the trash and learn the songs. But I didn’t start to write until high school, when my lead guitar player and best friend was killed in a train/car crash. His parents gave me his guitar. That profound gift sent me down the trail of singer/songwriter and gave me a refuge from the madness at home and a target for my life. – Aaron Cabott Jones.
Chewing On The Bone is an awesome track. You suddenly feel as if your listening to some lost album from the dawn of rock and roll, yet the added benefit is that the production quality on this release is flawlessly fresh, which, along with the stories and the sound of the artist’s leading voice, helps a classic and nostalgic sound appear completely new.
Wish Upon a Starfish takes a different approach entirely. A slightly Simon and Garfunkel sound emerges, acoustic and reflective, featuring delicate vocals, beautiful imagery, and stunning harmonies. At just three tracks in the eclectic nature of Aaron Cabott Jones’ artistry is unquestionably clear. Whichever style he chooses – the songwriting, the musicality, and the performances are of the absolute highest quality. Many of the concepts within this project will leave you thinking about something you hadn’t notably considered before.
The sheer energy and boldness of blues rock and roll fires back into action for Yes B Yes, presenting an infectious set of riffs and an instantly memorable hook. Better Watch Out follows on beautifully, changing the era slightly, a more vintage, original rock and roll aura emerges. This album actually feels a lot like a compilation project, gathering together a number of different bands and artists from yesteryear to present new ideas and to reignite the passions of the past. To listen is, quite relevantly, an adventure.
As well as unique and ever-appealing songwriting, this album offers a range of hard hitting instrumentation that ranges from huge drum lines through hypnotic riffs to energizing build-ups. More To Nothing, produced by Russ Richards, brings about a thick eighties beat, backed up by a stylish and smooth rock and roll vocal that drives the energy of the song further and further as things progress. That uniquely creative application of song structure is utilised as always, making the song far more of a composition than simply a bundling together of melodies and lyrics. The song fades out by means of a spacious and atmospheric few moments that leave you pondering what came to pass.
A Moment in 1976 is a stunning and perfectly placed instrumental journey that completely surrounds you. The guitar performance is simply amazing. As with much of this project, listening through headphones makes for a pretty phenomenal listening experience, though to share the moment with others does make for a different kind of magic. Both are encouraged. I’ll be sharing this album around for certain.
Time Has a Master reintroduces the literal story telling, transporting you to some other time and place entirely, keeping the mood gentle and acoustic, easing you back into the directed contemplation of effective lyricism. A River Sunrise maintains that easy going mood further, a completely different kind of instrumental journey steps forward, gentler now, blissfully enjoyable and softly moving back and forth between the light and the heavy – representing pretty wonderfully the contrast between the night and the day, or perhaps between the bustle of a flowing river and the calm of a sunrise.
Things come to an appropriate close with It’s Quiet Now. The electronic ambiance of this piece seems completely different yet again to anything that preceded it. The music is ambient and gentle in an Enya-inspired way. The space the music creates around you, the distant delicacy of the vocal – it all leaves quite an effect after having lost yourself in the ever-changing chaos and beauty of the past half hour or so. Aaron Cabott Jones is telling untold stories with his music, not just lyrically but in the musicality, the expression, the artistry of it all. His story as a whole is compelling to witness, and it comes through in a number of different ways on this fantastic album. Absolutely worth a download. Would make a brilliant Christmas present for fans of anything from Pink Floyd to Bowie to The Doors to Hendrix to, well, Enya I guess. Enjoy.
Download the album via iTunes or stream the album on Spotify. Find & follow Aaron Cabott Jones on Facebook & Twitter. Visit his Website for more information.
