BREAKING: Jack's Mannequin Disbands!

Some breaking news coming in just now. Andrew McMahon has announced the disbanding of his Jack's Mannequin side project, which formed in 2004 and has released three albums so far, with the most recent being last year's People and Things. Andrew announced the news in two cryptic blog posts on his website. You can read the blog excerpts directly below:

Last Night
Two Advil pm and 3 ounces of bullet rye later it occurs to me I have something to say. To the wall, to myself, to anyone who will listen. I enjoy operating in this space, late at night when the questions become riddles and the present tense becomes the past, shoring up hope at morning’s edge. As indicated by the page these words appear on and the mere existence of the words themselves, I am once again in transition. The truth is I am always so, and while for me it seems less like news and possibly for you too, I wish to clear what is left of the summer air. In approximately one day from the time these words are written, the double life I have been living will be filed away. A digital memory. I don’t chose this despite myself or the things I have created, and certainly not despite you. Quite the contrary, this is celebration of those things and the mysterious racket their separation has made inside my head. The truth is we all live inside ourselves, whether it’s the right thing to do or not. I have asked many things of many people. Follow me this way or that, up or down. Watch me dismantle one bomb to simply build a new one. It’s exhausting some times and while I never know the plan, it seems there is one. Maybe you’re tired of following and if so I wouldn’t blame you. If not though and for your information, I will be trading in old masks for one with my name written on the inside. I’m still learning how to wear it, but it feels good most days and it seems to match fingerprints.

this will be a process
5 am and I’ve finally grown tired of the pixelated black grey of a hotel ceiling. I move to the shower for a change of scenery and on the promise I’ve now attached to a spike in body temperature. I rest peacefully there, lights dim and orange, water comfort, hexagon tiles placed neatly side by side and lending order to an otherwise scattershot scene. Sleeplessness is a blessing and a curse. It is the hours late and lonely that will teach you what you’re made of. The new awake. I’ve pushed myself into the arms of the world again, and here I am hung up on it’s affect. This will be a process I tell myself. Speak when the words come. Fearing the judgement of a sun now rising could only leave me in the dark.

Jack's Mannequin was formed in 2004 and released their debut album, Everything In Transit in 2005. During the recording of the album, Andrew was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) which necessitated radiation and chemotherapy treatments, but eventually beat the cancer and was diagnosed cancer-free the next year and began touring to support the album. They released their second effort, The Glass Passenger in 2008 which debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 album charts upon its release with the lyrics on the album documenting his triumph over the disease, including songs like "The Resolution". Their most recent album (and eventually their last), People and Things came out last October, and I thought it was their best and most musically cohesive effort that was a full fledged relationship album and cemented Andrew's status as one of the most introspective and talented musicians around.

I was shocked when I heard about this news just a short time ago, and am still a little shaken up as I'm typing up this blog post just now. Andrew has and always will be my favorite songwriter whose capabilities are endless and can transcend any field imaginable. I feel that I've gotten a greater understanding of music just by watching him in interviews and not being bored with one word he says as he projects every word he says in an immensely articulate fashion. I'm so glad that I got to see him in concert twice, once with Something Concert and the other with Jack's Mannequin this past February. I've gotten the pleasure and privilege of meeting him in person both times, and it was an honor to finally meet Andrew in person and just see how genuine and down to earth he is and how much he really appreciates his fans as he talks to every single person gathered there for an autograph, photo-op, or just to have a brief chat. I will always support Andrew in whatever venture he chooses and will always appreciate everything he has done for my life through music.