While there is little argument as to the artistic accomplishment that is My Morning Jacket’s sixth studio album “Circuital,” there is some debate as to how the record’s title is pronounced. “I pronounce it ‘sir-cue-i-tal,'” said My Morning Jacket bassist Tom Blankenship on Wednesday morning before a show in Pittsburgh. “It’s one of those things where you can pronounce it any way you want. It’s like ‘Louisville’. You can pronounce Louisville anyway you want, and it’s alright. There’s no right or wrong way.”
My Morning Jacket performs Friday evening at Merriweather.
| Onstage |
| My Morning Jacket with Neko Case |
| Where: Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| When: Friday. Doors at 5:30 p.m. |
| Info: $35 to $45. For tickets or more information, visit merriweathermusic.com |
No matter the pronunciation, “Circuital,” which came out in May, has re-established My Morning Jacket on the music map. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard charts.
“It’s pretty sad, the state of music, if one of our albums is in the top 10,” Blankenship joked. “That’s mind-blowing.”
My Morning Jacket recorded a bulk of “Circuital” in an old church in Louisivlle. What started out as a rehearsal evolved into recoding sessions.
Highlights include the single “Holdin’ On To Black Metal,” the opener “Victory Dance” and the title-track. “Outta My System” and “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” were initially intended for a Muppet movie before that project fell through. Blankenship cites “Slow Slow Tune” as his favorite.
“You don’t know what the album is going to be until half-way through the process or once the tracking is done,” Blankenship said. “We’re taking songs we think will fit together, but you’re not really sure how those songs are going to turn out until you start working on them.”
Kentucky-based My Morning Jacket first formed in 1998. Blankenship and the band’s lead songwriter, singer and driving force Jim James are the two remaining original members, though drummer Patrick Hallahan, keyboardist Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel have been in the band for more than seven years. The group’s two biggest albums before the current effort are 2008’s “Evil Urges” and 2005’s “Z.”
“I think Jim has a good way of putting it, that the band itself is like this entity that exists no matter who is in it,” Blankenship said. “It’s like this machine that’s always moving. It’s weird to think about. It’s this mechanical beast with a soul that just keeps rolling along. We’ve been blessed to have a lot of friends who have joined us for the ride along the way.”
