You might have expected the debut solo album from Jim James to have its roots buried deep in US soil. However Regions Of Light & Sound Of God is, if anything, inspired by experimental artists from this side of the Atlantic. Blending spaced-out soul vibes with jazz riffing and irregular rhythmic motifs, it’s loosely inspired by a 1929 wood-cut graphic novel, entitled God’s Man, which James got into while recovering from a stage fall in 2008.
It begins with ‘State Of The Art (AEIOU)’, which sees our hirsute hero railing against the all-pervasiveness of technology, over a simple, repeated piano coda that’s part lullaby, part scare before bedtime: it’s James Blake’s version of ‘Limit To Your Love’ cross-bred with Radiohead’s ‘Talk Show Host’, and it gets better with each listen.
Unfortunately, too much of the rest of the album melts into the background, particularly when compared to something as immediately attention-demanding as Matthew E. White’s recent debut, which is, broadly speaking, in the same musical ballpark. ‘Actress’ hides a decent tune behind an easy listening MOR arrangement, ‘Of The Mother Again’ never manages to shift out of second gear, while the eastern-tinged ‘All Is Forgiven’ sounds like Zepp’s ‘Kashmir’, slowed down and devoid of drama. However, the biggest culprit here is ‘Know Til Now’, a would-be nu-soul extravaganza, with more time-changes than an indecisive horologist. Instead of grabbing you by the out-sized lapels, though, it slumps into a weird jazz netherworld, which is a pity, – because there’s a good song lurking behind those weird signatures.
Much better is the lo-fi funk of ‘Dear One’, complete with burbling bass, scratchy FX and cacophonic percussion, or ‘A New Life’, which morphs from torch ballad to doo-wop shuffle, and sees James channelling his inner Roy Orbison. In sum, James is to be commended for taking the road less travelled for his first solo outing, but the journey could have been a lot more pleasant had he not taken so many meandering detours into background musak. A frustrating listen.