jjerome87 - The Canyon

The iconic backdrop of California - from the Hollywood hills to its gnarly mountain trails - has always been a particularly evocative source of inspiration when it comes to art, so it’s not all too surprising to learn that Joe Newman, frontman of alt-J, felt so drawn to its confines for his first solo foray. His first venture proper outside of the band since their formation almost 20 years ago now - under the moniker of his former screenname JJerome87 - ‘The Canyon’ is a bold offering that comes dripping with a sultry California spirit. Opener ‘Mr Alligator’ swaggers to life in a bluesy manner, before ‘Green Velvet’ hazily saunters in, bathed in the kind of enveloping warmth that only Los Angeles could help conjure up. An assembled cast of session musicians and vocalists equally help to transform his otherwise ever-recognisable vocals into something marked apart from his day job, giving his experimental musical spirit a particularly organic and earthy feel here. It’s the ethereal ‘Two Hearts’, though, that is the album’s stunning centrepiece; a tender track dedicated to the pregnancy of his partner before his daughter’s birth. An album that feels utterly filmic in its scope and, yet, still indebted to Joe’s penchant for wonderfully eclectic musicality, ‘The Canyon’ is a delightful spot to get lost in.