Morning Has Broken

Can you guess who this is? We’re talking about an outfit with an unmistakeably deep southern-fried sound, a laid-back meld of country and retro rock. There’s lots and lots of hair. Some of the members are related. They’ve also emerged as the sleeper hit of this summer’s European festival circuit and, it would appear, have a long future of similarly hazy summers mapped out in front of them.

Ha! You’re not even close.

As you might imagine, it’s nigh impossible to talk to My Morning Jacket without mentioning their similarity, at least on paper, to another familiar outfit. Not that the Jackets will agree.
“I think that anyone who compares us is bullshit,” says vocalist Jim James. “I really like the Kings Of Leon, they’re great guys, but when people compare us, I think it’s laziness on behalf of the media. It’s not fair to them, it’s not fair to us, just because we’re hairy dudes and we’re from the South… I mean, if you put on both records, they’re so different, like night and day. One of our hopes is that people will get past that comparison. It makes me mad and sad, but we can’t stop it, but I hope with time it won’t be an issue.”

Of course, while they may look curiously like their southern brethren, MMJ exude a different kind of cool, and have garnered comparisons with an entirely different range of artists, including Neil Young, Sparklehorse, Flaming Lips and Galaxie 500. While flattered, it’s not an angle the band are entirely comfortable with.

“We really don’t like being compared to anyone, even though it’s flattering to be mentioned alongside those people,” says Jim, “but you work your whole life to make music that’s individual and different, and then you just end up being compared to someone else anyway, which sucks.”

Having recently made the jump from an indie label to BMG, are they afraid of how differently they may be treated, or whether it will spark a change in direction for the band’s sound?
“Ask me in about six months,” jokes James’ cousin, guitarist Johnny Quaid. “We still treat everything the same way, we haven’t really changed our work ethic or mentality, the only thing that we’re hoping will change is that more people will get to hear the music… besides, we’re now on the same label as Elvis and the Foo Fighters, which is cool.”
Speaking of Elvis, one benefit of major label clout is gaining access to the Memphis Horns (who previously played with Elvis and BB King), a turn of events that the band considers a true coup.

“I don’t know how that happened, I think the label just paid them a lot of money,” says James. “It was amazing being in their studio, I mean there was all this old dirt and dust on the walls, so you can just imagine how amazing the history of the place is.”
On the day we speak, the band are enjoying their first trip to Ireland as a band (Quaid backpacked here several years ago).

“We had a really ‘Irish’ moment today too,” James reveals. “We were eating fish and chips somewhere on Dame Street, and we were drinking Guinness and U2 came on the radio. I mean, can you get any more Irish than that?”