Blood of Man is Mason Jennings’ eighth album and his
second on Jack Johnson’s label, Brushfire records. Through
all of his years writing songs and performing, he has never
before been so honest and forthright with his lyrics. They
marry themselves beautifully to his newly discovered electric
style. While still maintaining his folk pop sensibilities,
he tackles songs about suicide, war and growing up in dysfunction.
There are so many great songs on this album. The autobiographical
“Pittsburgh” is like hearing someone read you their diary.
Not the superficial pages about girls and friends — the
hidden pages they don’t want anyone to see. It is an anthem
to growing up bored and lost. In the vein of Jim Carroll’s
“People Who Died,” Mason creates a matter-of-fact ode to
his childhood. I love the line in the chorus —”grocery stores
in the middle of the night shine their own kind of light.”
It’s true and depressing and reminds me of my many nights
when I was broke and wandering grocery stores in the middle
of the night.
In “Sing Out,” he shows us that he has mastered the subtleties
that can exist in an electric guitar. The guitar track he
carries throughout the song is so good you feel the emotion
deep in your soul. When he finally lets out the lyric “I’ve
been a rolling stone since the devil first came to me,”
you can’t help but feel like you are yourself a rolling
stone. In “Black Wind Blowing,” he sings about the death
of a child and vengeance. It’s powerful and unexpected.
On “The Field,” Mason returns to his roots, writing what
I think is the finest anti-war song ever written. It’s so
real and graceful; focusing more on the emotions of loss
and how helpless you feel. When he finally sings “I don’t
want no victory, I just want you back” over and over again,
he does so with so much ache in his voice I found myself
in tears.
Blood of Man is a great album, every bit as good as you
would expect from him and better. It’s the best album I’ve
heard from him since his 2006 release, Boneclouds. Mason
Jennings is one of the most important songwriters we have
in the modern era. Most people don’t know who he is and
that is a shame. Don’t be one of the last to know. Buy the
whole album, not just a few on iTunes.
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