New Jayhawks Album: “Paging Mr. Proust”

Paging Mr. Proust

News of a new Jayhawks album is always cause for celebration in my house. The band will be releasing Paging Mr. Proust this coming week on April 29, 2016, and from the first single, “Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces,” it sounds like the album will have the harmonies and catchy tunes we are used to hearing from the band.

The Jayhawk’s last album of new material was Mockingbird Time, released in 2011. That album saw Mark Olson rejoining Gary Louris and Tim O’Reagan on the album, but Olson soon departed again. The band has made some great music since it formed with Olson as well as bass player Marc Perlman, so I hate to see Olson’s departure again after an unhappy split.

But the Jayhawks historically have shown that the group can make great music without Olson too, as they did on albums like Rainy Day Music (2003), Smile (2000), and Sound of Lies (1997). So I am hoping the rest of the band pulls it off again.

In addition O Louris, O’Reagan, and Perlman, longtime Jayhawks member Karen Grotberg (vocals and keyboard) also returns on the new album. Below is the first single, “Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces.” Check it out.

Paging Mr. Proust was produced by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, the Decemberists). R.E.M.’s Mike Mills contributed vocals to the song “Leaving The Monsters Behind.” Paging Mr. Proust hits stores and the Internet on April 29.

What is your favorite Jayhawks album? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    R.E.M. Calls It a Day

    R.E.M. announced today on their website that they are breaking up the band:

    R.E.M.

    “To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.” R.E.M.

    The website also has short messages from each of the surviving band members Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills. Peter Buck notes, “Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future.”

    I’m going to be obvious and post one of the band’s biggest hits rather than be cool and go for something more obscure. But one is hard to find a better song than “Losing My Religion,” a perfect pop song about obsession and being on the verge of losing control of oneself, all wrapped up in a memorable mandolin riff. The official video is close to perfect too, but here is a live performance from MTV. Au revoir R.E.M.

    “Losing My Religion” is from their album Out of Time (1991). Was the song really released twenty years ago? Check out Past Magazine’s ranking of the top twenty R.E.M. songs.

    What is your favorite R.E.M. song or memory? Leave a comment.

  • New Jayhawks Album: “Paging Mr. Proust”
  • Watch One of R.E.M.’s First Shows
  • Michael Stipe’s Tribute to David Bowie
  • Micky Dolenz Covers R.E.M. Song That Was Partly Inspired By the Monkees: “Shiny Happy People”
  • “Roll Columbia” Captures Spirit of Woody Guthrie (Album Review)
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  • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)