Jupiter in Velvet – The One in the Many

Few performers working today have the same potential to captivate listeners as guitar and songwriting maestro Jupiter in Velvet. This colorful performer writes intelligent and brilliantly alive material that nevertheless has considerable taste and surprising precision. He never wastes a single word or note. Each of the album’s ten compositions are written down to the minutest of detail – Jupiter in Velvet knows exactly what his goals are for each song and every track is a record of his knowledge of how to get there. He succeeds spectacularly. There isn’t a single song on The One in the Many that would qualify as filler on anyone’s album and the running order shows a thoughtful consideration for structure and the nuances of light and shadow. His vocals are a wild card that helps sell the album every bit as much as the guitar fireworks and songwriting. He has the spark of real rock and roll spirit bubbling through his high baritone voice and an uncanny ability to seize passages by the scruff of the neck and shake every bit of emotion he can from their message.

The first fiery gem that stands out from the pack, “Lose Yourself”, alternates between unsettling listeners with ominous softer passages and bludgeoning displays of Jupiter in Velvet’s guitar technique at its most assertive. He unleashes a tortured vocal that, nevertheless, strains with real passion that will affect even the most jaded of listeners. “Everyone’s Looking 4 Something They Can’t Find” is a sparkling, diamond-hard gem that surely ranks among the album’s best songs thanks to a well thought out and balanced performance. He tears through the song’s changes with a great deal of brio and complete commitment to the song. “Surrender 2 the Groove” promises, on title alone, to be a much more subtle and suggestive song, but Jupiter in Velvet dispenses with any sort of nuance in favor of a blistering musical attack that clamps down on its much ballyhooed groove and never relaxes its hold.

The relentless percussion opening “2Day is the Day” sets up one of The One in the Many’s best pure pop songs. The guitar accompaniment for the track has a primarily compositional approach, but it’s another exuberant vocal from Jupiter in Velvet that raises this another notch. He strips down his songwriting approach, particularly in rock vein, on the song “Only Your Love” and it has an entertaining thrust that works well this late in the album. The stately sway of “Take Over the World” is another exhibition of his diversity and fills a great slot as the album’s penultimate song. It sets up the last track, “Keep Your Eye on the Pearl”, ideally thanks to the powerful contrast between the songs. While the former has an almost classicist rock feel, the last track is a dark, cluttered alt rock masterpiece. The closer puts a powerful exclamation point on the album. The One in the Many will surely end up ranked as one of this artist’s seminal works.

URL: http://jupiterinvelvet.com/

LAST FM: http://www.last.fm/music/Jupiter+in+Velvet/Shut+Off+Your+Mind

 9 out of 10 stars.

Cyrus Rhodes