Jackson Boone's Third Album of Lo-Fi Psychedelia Isn't a Reinvention, but It Feels Regenerative

In many ways, "Organic Light Factory" is like a baptism.

Jackson Boone, Organic Light Factory (Raindust)

[LO-FI PSYCHEDELIA] In many ways, Organic Light Factory, the new album from singer-songwriter Jackson Boone and his band, the Ocean Ghosts, feels like a baptism. It is bookended by watery sounds, beginning with the slowly sinking "Nu Oshen" and taking its exit with the buoyant twang of "White Elephant." It moves with mesmerizing comfort and grace for nearly the entirety of its half-hour playing time. And, while certainly not a reinvention for an artist known for his vaporous sound, the record is so well-assembled that it comes off as both momentous and regenerative. If there's a tidal shift in tone, it occurs halfway through "Don't," when a mildly funky guitar riff gives way to more ominous phrasing and Boone's best impression of John Entwistle singing "Boris the Spider." It's a telltale moment indicating darkness ahead, and while gloomier conditions do follow, they still fall within the molten sonic framework Boone builds at the onset. One of the great merits of Organic Light Factory is that when Boone does feel like throwing a curve ball—such as the Beck-like blues rant in "Blue Sunrise"—it tends to land nimbly in the larger sea of the Ocean Ghosts' rich musical backdrop. Nothing feels out of place, yet nothing is predictable.

SEE IT: Jackson Boone plays Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Cat Hoch, Sinless and Wave Action, on Friday, March 10. 9 pm. $5. 21+.

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