Gary Clark Jr. - JPEG RAW (2LP)

Gary Clark Jr. has always been a shape‑shifter, and JPEG RAW is the kind of left turn that still feels like a homecoming. Released March 22, 2024 on Warner Records, his fourth studio album picks up the thread from This Land and pulls it through a wider loom. Blues is still the backbone, but the muscle comes from soul, R&B, psychedelia, and a modern pulse that nods to hip‑hop production without losing the human grit of a live band. The title reads like a photographer’s choice, and that is the point. Clark leans into the idea of an unfiltered snapshot, the mess and the detail, the grain and the glow.

The opening stretch sets the tone. Guitars roar and whisper, not just stacked in walls but bent into hooks, with Clark’s falsetto floating above. He is not afraid of space. Drum machines flicker against live snares. A Rhodes will smudge the corners, then a fuzz pedal snarls in reply. The title track, JPEG RAW, pulls these threads tight. It moves with a clipped shuffle, guitar runs cutting through like light leaks on old film. Clark sings about seeing clearly in an age of compression, and the arrangement mirrors that, letting the bass breathe while synths hover at the edges.

Then there is What About the Children, a clear standout that pairs Clark with Stevie Wonder. Wonder’s harmonica doesn’t just cameo. It becomes a second voice, answering Clark’s questions with lines that ache. The song’s core is simple and that is why it lands. A gospel tint comes in through the backing vocals, the rhythm section keeps the pocket steady, and Clark’s solo breaks like a storm, then fades before you want it to. It is the rare guest spot that elevates the whole record, not just the single.

Clark has talked in interviews about wanting to capture life as it is, and you can hear that in the way the album pivots from righteous to romantic in a breath. He writes about community and pressure, about holding your ground, about being present for the people who count. The social lens that sharpened This Land is still in focus, though the angle has shifted. Here he often chooses intimacy over indictment. You get late‑night confessionals and morning‑after clarity, with arrangements that feel hand‑stitched rather than machine cut.

If you are coming to JPEG RAW for guitar fireworks, you will not leave hungry. The tones are a tour of his obsessions. Thick, sustaining leads that trace back to Austin clubs. Staccato funk jabs that could sit next to a vintage Curtis Mayfield side. Octave‑pedal squalls that nod to Hendrix but stop short of cosplay. What keeps it compelling is the restraint. Clark picks his moments. A solo will arrive as a counter‑melody, not a victory lap, and the band leaves air around it so the notes hang.

Early reviews have keyed in on the range here, and that feels right. It is a big record, not in the sense of bloat, but in the sense of breadth. Sequencing matters. The arc carries you from electric blowouts to candlelit corners, and the payoff comes when you take it as an album rather than skipping for singles. That makes the JPEG RAW vinyl a smart grab. On wax the low end sits warmer, the cymbals soften, and the dynamics feel truer to the performances. If you like Gary Clark Jr. albums on vinyl, this one rewards the ritual of flipping a side and settling back in. I could see it as a staff pick in a Melbourne record store, filed with a scribbled card that says, “File under modern soul blues, late night, turn it up.”

Collectors will care about the shelf story too. Clark’s discography moves from Blak and Blu to The Story of Sonny Boy Slim to This Land and now to this record, and the throughline is growth. JPEG RAW is the sound of a musician refusing to be pinned down. If you are browsing and wondering whether to buy Gary Clark Jr. records online or to hold out for a local copy, know that this one has staying power. It will live on your turntable for a while.

There is plenty to love in the moment to moment details, but the bigger picture is simple. Gary Clark Jr. made a studio album that feels alive, rooted in the blues yet reaching wide, anchored by songs that hold up when the volume is low and explode when it is not. If you have been waiting for something that hits the heart and the hips, this is it. And if you are hunting Gary Clark Jr. vinyl, start here.