The album release from Jim Duff explores a lot as the record comes through with honesty and a warmth that feels good to listen to but also has a way of pulling you in, wrapping itself around you, and keeping you right where it wants to.
The Spiritual Odyssey LP definitely has layers that can be peeled back from song to song and the whole thing almost feels like a concept record and these tracks are almost chapters in the songwriter's life.
Some of these tracks really have a classic vibe to them with this acoustic backbone but a classic rock Jive that takes you along with it and throughout the record you go on these little musical Journeys and if you pay attention to the lyrics they also tell stories.
There are some surprises around some of the corners of this record and you can sort of hear these different influences that he feeds into throughout the album which makes it eclectic and very lush.
The record boasts some outstanding guitar work and memorable progressions along with hooks that aren't just vocal, but musical that stick in your head for hours or even days after the songs have ended.
But the thing that gets you the most is this feeling of escapism that you get as you sort of forget about your own reality and step into his for a moment in time.
It feels really good to do things like this and I think that some music was made just for that.
There are definitely more than a handful of singles that stick out but this is the kind of record that is supposed to be listened to from start to finish.
The whole album has a story to tell and you should soak it in properly from beginning to end.
The energy and dynamic balance throughout this record is stellar and some of the songs feel almost like live performances in a strange way because of that energy and the instrumentation almost feeding off of each other the entire time.
There's a lot about this record that lets you know that there was a lot of attention to detail throughout the recording process but it never loses that actual heart or soul that it was built from in the first place and that may be the most important thing.
This record has character and it has a persona which is part of the reason you get so addicted to it and feel so attached to it by the time it's over.
if you listen to the record in full, by the end of it you feel like you know him better as a person and that's something I've missed in music for quite some time.
As far as we've been told, the album was written in 2018 when Jim was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and this explains a lot of the existential aspects of the record at times.
All in all, the record has heart and that is the most evident thing about it.
The whole thing is quite beautiful and Jim Duff has also been writing books along with records which is all quite beautiful.
Being able to take your creativity and use it as an outlet is cathartic and I think, what the sole purpose of creativity really is for.
Jim Duff is an outstanding example of exactly that.
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