Jack Jeffery - The Constant That Remains

Hailing from Bealeton, VA Jack Jeffery has returned with his brand new studio effort titled "The Constant That Remains". The follow up to 2010's "Passage to Agadir" finds the singer-songwriter picking up right where his first one left off with strong prog-rock patterns that present an artist just in the midst of discovering his true sound.

The disc opens up with "We Need It Back (The Modern Dreamer)", which has a consistent, melodic flow to it that is representative of the type of music he normally plays and his voice has a distorted quality to it that gives it a dash of authenticity and makes you want to continue listening to the rest of the album as well. "Rearranged" starts off on a more acoustic scale, before branching out into some groovy wavelengths that hearken back to the late 60's psychedelic heyday era with fervent rhythms that take you back in time a little bit. "Gavotte For African String Guitar" features many of the same musical characteristics that the other one did, and features the absence of Jack's vocals to place all attention squarely on the sound of the guitar and let the guitar do all the talking for you.  My favorite song from the disc is "Fade Away", which echoes the musicality of Pink Floyd mixed in with a modern sensibility that continues to transport the listener further into the musical realm of otherworldly sounds not heard in quite some time. "The Sirius Wall" is a purely instrumental track that is another escapist delight and continues the album's musical quest right into the unknown.

The disc's second half gets into gear with "Everything Changes", and begins its quest into prog-rock rhythms, this time bringing in some influence from The Who to craft an orchestral jam that will definitely have you hitting repeat by the time the song is over, a truly remarkable track. "Valencian Cosmos" amps up the mysteriousness factor a bit and begins to factor in an ominous, mystical quality that gives the listener a bit of a chill when first listening, but then quickly adapts to the fervor presented here. "Ascendancy" starts off with a neat drum pattern before setting into a dazzling, electronic keyboard aided riff that sounds like something from a mid 80's Nintendo video game that is quite a entertaining listen. The disc closes out with "Carry On", a perfect track to close out the album with that familiar acoustic melody kicking in again and giving the disc a well deserved sendoff with Jack's distorted vocals presenting a quick overview of a disc that breaks the genre's boundaries and is an experimental opus of musical concepts that haven't been drawn up in quite some time. When I first discovered and reviewed Jack's debut album last Fall, I was impressed with his ability and musical candor to transcend musical boundaries and experiment with instrumentation that doesn't fall into any particular classification whatsoever, it's just calm and relaxing music that you can easily enjoy and fall in love with.

In retrospect, a terrific and well executed second effort from Jack Jeffery, who has once again gone above and beyond and delivered to us musical sounds that offer us an escape and gives us an opportunity to break away for awhile and experience what's outside the musical boundaries.

                                                                                                                          Album Score: 3.5/5

Track Listing:

1. We Need It Back (A Modern Dreamer)
2. Rearranged
3. A Plea to A Dreamer
4. Gavotte for African Steel Guitar
5. Fade Away
6. The Sirius Wall
7. Everything Changes
8. Trust the Dial!
9. Valencian Cosmos
10. Ascendancy
11. The Constant in the Chaos
12. Carry On