Jon McKiel albums

2024

Hex - 86%

Jon Mckiel really has a hold on the do it yourself production aspect, combining aspect from other self producers like Beck, Todd Rundgren, or Menomena. There is such a sense of discovery in lyrics that match the music pasted together quality- “String” evolves as it asks “how long is this piece of string?”, “Still Life” is sop dense it threatens to implode with its many ideas (and maybe could have been twice as long?) and opener “Hex” really does what the track says and entices you to listen to the entire record in one of the best album openers of 2024. This opening triad of songs sets the tone for the album, and while giving it an effortless feel demands to be listed to in headphones for full effect.

Folk rock jumps out channeling the lo fi kings of the past, with “The Fix” harking to the sky like Van Dyke Parks would “I get the feeling something isn’t showing/ in the shadow of another sun/ still running form the zeros and ones.” There is also the ability to craft an old fashioned pop songs out for the basic ingredients, the fantastic “Everlee” which towers above almost everything else on the album, evoking not only the Everly Brothers but also Mark Lanegan’s supreme angst. “Under Burden” is still an interesting ditty, and the two versions of “Memory Screen’s” while interesting maybe could have been combined to produce a more complete thought but the haphazard nature is part of the charm. It also produces the amazing era defining lyric, “I found you hard to find.” Only the mundane “Lady’s Mantle” really fails to entertain. It all, Hex is an amazing listen, leaving us wanting more of this type of creativity in modern pop artists.

Best Songs: Everlee, Hex, Still Life