One of my very favorite albums to come out of 2020 was the epic double LP – ‘PRIMITIF’ by Jack Hues. That album was years in the making and described deep, emotional and sometimes personal stories form Hues. On September 24th, Hues released the follow up to ‘PRIMITIF’ with another brilliant collection of songs entitled – Electro-Acoustic Works 20:20 via Dawn Chorus Recording Company.
This time around, Hues tells the story of the life and times during a pandemic that changed the world. There’s a wide array of emotion throughout the album. Be it concern, sadness, optimism or just simply the reality that many of us faced in 2020 and even up to this very moment.
This is expressed both lyrically and musically.
“My friend is staring at the ceiling in a hospital room. I hope he’s comfortable.”
It’s an example of words and music conjuring emotion. It’s a sobering line that sparks a dark visual and is accompanied by a sad, walk down of guitar notes but somehow seems to offer a slight glimmer of hope at the end of each phrase when the music takes a half-step forward. I don’t even know if this is what Hues intended but that’s the beauty of music. Just that step forward on the fret board offered a brief sense of light. That’s what I felt during my many listens of the song ‘Don’t Waste Words’.
Throughout the album there are these moments that happen that draw me in and keep me there. But they aren’t always as subtle. A song like ‘We Gotta Work Together’ has a throwback feel both in sound and message. It has the soul of coming out of a studio like the Memphis Recording Service and has a message of unity. But it’s more than that. It questions the divisive nature of the media and the thought that we maybe need to understand why someone would want to keep us divided in the first place. This is not that forum to enter that discussion, but it gives the listener some much needed thought provoking content.
Baby N’Sola provides a burst of energy and amazing vocal tone on ‘We Gotta Work Together’ as well as vocal ad-libs in spots on the back half of the record. The album was produced by Jack Hues and Joel Magill and includes contributions from Syd Arthur’s Josh Magill, as well as trumpeter Daniel Cano, Pete Grogan on tenor sax, and Hues’ own daughter Violet. Mastering was completed by John Davis at Metropolis Mastering. The cover artwork is one part of a triptych created by Ron Chadwick detailing his journey with cancer and 2020.
Another thing that I want to note are the tracks that come with the vinyl release as a bonus 7″ single. ‘Frootbat Reset’ and ‘Sounds Of The Universe’. Love the feel and sonic quality of both of these tracks. In Fact, Sounds Of The Universe has quickly become my favorite track from this collection of songs and ranks pretty high on my favorite Jack Hues tracks along with songs like ‘Whitstable Beach’ and ‘Astrology’ from ‘PRIMITIF’.
Hues brings so many aspects to an album, it is almost hard to keep up. Whether it’s our blistering pace as humans or the delicate bliss of sheep. Gentle strokes of the acoustic guitar or thick-tone driven guitar riffs and solos, Hues expresses his thoughts and describes a fascinating story, start to finish on Electro-Acoustic Works 20:20.
-Tommy Marz
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