My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket (2LP) - Clear Vinyl

My Morning Jacket’s self-titled ninth album lands like a confident reset, the sound of a band trusting its own pulse again. Released on 22 October 2021 through ATO Records, it feels both familiar and fresh, with Jim James leaning into the warm, widescreen approach that made the group a live favourite and a studio shapeshifter. It is the first time they have gone self-titled, which says plenty about intent. No concept to hide behind. Just the five of them, in a room, finding the spark that lit up Louisville clubs and then Red Rocks amphitheatres over the years.

The opener, Regularly Scheduled Programming, sets the tone with a synth shimmer that nods to Z without rehashing it. Lyrically it pokes at the trance of feeds and screens, but the message never outweighs the music. Patrick Hallahan sluices toms and cymbals so the song blooms rather than blares, and when the guitars crest, it gives you that head‑tilt feeling that only this band can conjure. It is an immediate reminder of how well they balance uplift with unease.

Love Love Love follows with a sunlit sway that could have drifted in from a coastal radio station. Carl Broemel’s guitar threads melody through the verse like fishing line drawn taut, and Bo Koster colours the edges with keys that feel almost tactile. Jim James sings it straight, no ironic wink, and that sincerity sells the chorus. There is a touch of old school soul in the groove, yet the song still sits squarely in the Jacket world where reverb is a mood and optimism has teeth.

The middle stretch is where the record settles into its sweet spot. Never in the Real World pushes forward on Tom Blankenship’s patient bassline, giving James room to fracture his voice at the edges, then pull it back into focus. In Color feels like a postcard from a happier headspace, layered harmonies flickering like heat haze. Least Expected creeps in quietly then swells, proof that the band still knows how to build a long fuse and light it at just the right moment. There are no flashy tricks here, just a group that has played together long enough to anticipate the next breath.

Lucky to Be Alive is a quiet highlight. It moves with the calm acceptance that defined parts of The Waterfall, though the writing is sharper here and the band sounds more present. When the guitars climb and the chorus opens up, it feels earned rather than engineered. Across the album you hear the commitment to capturing performances, not piecing together parts. That live‑in‑the‑room energy is why My Morning Jacket vinyl is the way to experience it. The mixes leave space for air to move, and you can feel the kick drum push against the cabinet while the vocals sit just above the instruments, not floating away from them.

Context matters too. After a run of shows in 2019 that reminded them what this band could be together, they regrouped and made an album that plays to their strengths. It arrives after The Waterfall II, which drew from earlier sessions, so this one reads as their first full slate of freshly written songs since 2015. Self produced, released on their long time label, and cut with the classic lineup of James, Broemel, Koster, Hallahan and Blankenship, it has the cohesion of a unit that knows when to step forward and when to let the song take the wheel. Critics latched onto that chemistry on release, noting how the record threads the adventurous streak of their mid 2000s work with the grounded songwriting of their later years.

Spinning the album twice on a rainy arvo confirms it. The sequencing pulls you through drift and drive, and the closing run stretches out enough to satisfy anyone who fell in love with It Still Moves, yet the writing keeps things focused. If you collect My Morning Jacket albums on vinyl, this is essential. If you are hunting for My Morning Jacket vinyl for the first time, it is a strong entry point that shows the range without getting lost in the weeds. And if you are flicking through crates in a Melbourne record store or looking to buy My Morning Jacket records online from a local shop that ships vinyl records Australia wide, keep an eye out for My Morning Jacket vinyl specifically. It rewards volume, patience and a comfortable chair.

It is rare to hear a band this far into a career sound this present. No grand reinvention, just five players trusting the songs and letting electricity do the rest. That is the charm of My Morning Jacket, and it is all over this record.