Munki

About

When it was announced that a major label would not be releasing The Jesus and Mary Chain’s sixth album despite consistently increasing sales for all five previous effort, it seemed that something was ami. There was further cause for concern when the Reid siblings began assigning individual writing credit to songs after a literal lifetime of collaboration. But the surest sign that all was not well in JAMC Land came when Jim Reid began conducting all interviews with bassist Ben Lurie instead of brother William. The band tried to put on a brave face. Freed from corporate contract, they could return as prodigal sons to Creation Record, the UK indie they had helped launch in 1984 and was now flush thanks to the success of another sibling act, Oasi. The split songwriting was explained away as part of an aborted double album concept about the history of rock ’n’ roll. And as far as interviews go, Jim always did most of the talking anyhow. But no matter how they doth protest, the William-penned lyrics to lead single “Cracking Up”—“Some said I was a freak… They said I was weak… They said I was incomplete”—were enough to merit a wellness check, something Jim acknowledged in an interview with MTV where he said, “Mentally, its been a bit like Vietnam for William over the last couple of year.” He also suggested in another interview that his brother’s issues stemmed from his on-and-off relationship with Hope Sandoval, the Mazzy Star singer whose appearance on <i>Stoned & Dethroned</i>’s standout single, “Sometimes Alway,” gave The Jesus and Mary Chain their best-selling album. Sandoval returns on <i>Munki</i>, this time sounding more succubus than chanteuse on the oddly trip-hop indebted “Perfume.” .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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