ALBUM REVIEW: Gary Clark Jr. Burns Down Boundaries on ‘JPEG RAW’

Near the end of his fourth studio album, on a number called “Triumph,” Gary Clark Jr. urges listeners to “set the world on fire.”

Clark himself has been doing that with his music since he emerged as a six-string prodigy a decade and a half ago, the latest in a line of guitar gods going back to Eric Clapton. But as JPEG RAW makes clear, Clark remains intent on torching any musical boundaries that might confine him as he continues to expand his vision beyond blues and blues-rock.

Gary Clark Jr. (photo by Mike Miller)

JPEG RAW — an acronym for jealousy, pride, envy, greed, rules, alter ego, worlds — ranges from sonically dense and urgent to quietly reflective and romantic, touching on everything from blues and rock to rap, jazz, and African music.

Clark explodes out of the gate with “Maktub” (Arabic for fate or destiny), an insistent guitar riff providing the momentum as he raps lyrics such as “We gotta move in the same direction” and “time for a new revolution.” The title track highlights his deftness at melding styles as he manages to sound, well, raw, while also exuding an almost supper club vibe, with a silkily elegant guitar solo (and samples from both The Jackson 5 and Thelonious Monk) playing off the toughly rapped lyrics.

Valerie June joins Clark for the confrontational duet “Don’t Start,” the album’s bluesiest number, while electronic R&B chanteuse Naala guests on the more genteel “This Is Who We Are,” although Clark does cut the sweetness with a tangy guitar solo near the end. And co-writer Stevie Wonder joins him for “What About the Children,” whose biting social commentary rides a funky groove that recalls Wonder’s “Living for the City.” George Clinton makes a less consequential appearance on the desultory “Funk Witch U,” which is curiously lacking in said funk but includes yet another infectious Clark guitar hook.

Clark goes from fiery rapper to old-school crooner mode on “To the Ends of the Earth,” revealing his inner Smokey Robinson, and he aches sublimely on “Alone Together,” a jazzy bedroom ballad.

The aforementioned “Triumph” starts as a piano-led ballad before steadily building to the uplift that underpins the lyrics: “Don’t give up. Turn tragedy to triumph.”

Clark closes with the nine-minute “Habits,” where he is at his most introspective and vulnerable. “I keep running in circles, chasing my tail,” he confesses. In truth, as a musician, he continues to move resolutely forward, seeking new horizons in ways that may disappoint some roots purists, but sound true to himself.

Gary Clark Jr.’s JPEG RAW is out March 22 on Warner Records.