The dust has settled following last week’s Record Store Day (April 19th), and much of the retrospective limelight beams fervently on to the bonnet of Jack White.
A man seemingly with unlimited energy and drive, White buzzes from one project to another injecting his own unique style into each, as if showing unremitting philanthropy to the contemporary rock scene. After casually making household names of The White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather, he released the critically acclaimed debut solo album ‘Blunderbuss’ in 2012, and has been working on a new record set to be released on June 9th.
The first sneak peak at this new material is the single ‘Lazaretto’, which shares its title with the album and became the fastest ever recorded and released pressing in musical history on Record Store Day. It took 3 hours, 55 minutes and 21 seconds for a live performance of the track to be played in front of a few hundred fans, recorded, mastered, pressed, released and bought by its first customer at a store close to White’s Nashville studio.
Concerning the track itself, ‘Lazaretto’ begins with a funky bass hook and moves into wobbly electronic effects reminiscent of an ancient arcade game while White’s distinctive voice barks, “Even God herself has fewer plans than me!”. The madness continues through a classically wonderful solo and into a bombardment of noise in a breakdown slightly reminiscent of Tom Morello’s fanciful head-bangers. All is capped off, for reasons only one man can begin to explain, by a quick-paced but melodious fiddle section.
Despite the structure of ‘Lazaretto’ being a little insane, there isn’t necessarily anything new and shocking about its sound. It’s all very ‘Jack White’, and fans of his previous work will be at once consoled and confused by this groovy piece of strut-rock. It’s also worth mentioning that, considering the erratic nature, it’s doubly impressive that the speedy release went off without a hitch. The same feat could have been achieved with a catchy, three chord love song (of which White has demonstrated his ability to produce), but perhaps that would have been too easy?
This is what White does best; channeling his charming, blues-driven egomania into everything he does, reminding the world that genuine rock stars still exist.
Even though his sound is far from revolutionary, it continues to be exciting, engaging and spectacularly fun.
