Gary Clark Jr. is back with his fourth studio album JPEG Raw, his first in five years (This Land). JPEG Raw is an acronym for Jealousy, Pride, Envy, Greed, Rules, Alter Ego, and Worlds. The album came out of a time period in which Clark Jr. would find himself alone in the studio during COVID-19 quarantined in March 2020, trying to set himself back to when he first started making music at the age of 12. He explained that JPEG Raw is about “showing the real and not the edit” as he grew tired of not having “more genuine interaction” due to a “world of edits, filters and redos”. The album finds him expanding on his palette of influences, including traditional African music, jazz, rock, R&B, hip-hop, and blues.
One thing that Clark deserves credit for is that it is a full album of twelve songs and the album lasts almost one hour. He also has five guests on the album including Stevie Wonder and George Clinton. You can tell how much work he put into this album with some very well thought out tracks and his playing over ten instruments. It also has a nice balance of fast and slow paced songs.
Tracks like “Maktub”, “JPEG Raw” and “This is who we are” all rock out, are good tracks but Clark does it fast talking-rapping which isn’t the best or really goes with his rock vibe. The second one has a bluesy old school style to it but is more emotional as well. The third one has a cool opening riff to it with like a choir in the background and sounds like a really good production is being put on.
The track “To the end of the Earth” is a nice quiet and quick song which is a nice easy transition to harder stuff coming or more complicated stuff. Like the song “Alone together” that is a very emotional slower track which has a message about being together and being alone.
One of the best songs is “What about the Children” has the R&B Stevie Wonder singing on the track but also co-wrote it with Clark, it is such a groovy song that also rocks out blending R&B with rock well. The other really groovy song is “Funk witch u”, it is very funky but rocks out and is a very clever play on words.
“Hearts in Retrograde” is one of his more interesting songs which has a cool sound to it like UFO noises which like other songs on this album; like he put a whole production for this track with a catchy chorus but it rocks out as well. “Hyperwave” is also a good example of a good song that rocks out but has a nice-slower tone to it. There is one bad song “Don’t Start” that starts off very weird and just is eh nothing special.
The album ends with two very emotional-quieter tracks but also the two longest tracks. The track “Triumph” has a great message, it is very catchy but does have its moments when it rocks out but is one of the better tracks. It blends an emotional message with a good rocking out. While the final track “Habits” comes in at nine minutes and completely changes the mood/vibe of the song three minutes into it. It definitely fits the vibe of a good emotional-slower track that gives perspective into his life. It is mostly an instrumental rocking out on his guitar for most of the ending of the song.
Let’s give Clark some real credit here as most artists do not write most of their songs or play one instrument let alone ten or more. He decided he was tired of filters/edits/ that he made a wonderful album from start to end of all original ideas. He continues to be a master of blending the blues with rock music and this album isn’t any different.