My Morning Jacket – is

What Critics Are Saying About the Band’s First Album with an Outside Producer

In the early 2000s, My Morning Jacket carved out a sound that didn’t sit neatly in one box. Southern rock muscle met swirling psychedelia, all wrapped in cavernous reverb and indie experimentation.

The result? Albums like It Still Moves and Z felt massive—roomy enough to get lost in, detailed enough to keep pulling you back. You were stepping into fully-formed worlds: humid, mysterious, and somehow familiar.

That sonic ambition, paired with their growing live reputation, turned them into one of the most quietly influential rock bands of the era. Not because they were chasing the moment—but because they were building something that could outlast it.

Now comes is—their tenth studio album and, quietly, a major turning point.
For the first time, My Morning Jacket handed the reins to an outside producer: Brendan O’Brien, whose work with Pearl Jam and Springsteen shaped some of rock’s most enduring records.

But does O’Brien spark new fire—or tame it?
Let’s dig into what the critics are saying.

What Works

A Cohesive Touch

Right from the start, it’s clear this isn’t another jammed-out, kitchen-sink MMJ record.
For the first time, they’ve brought in outside producer Brendan O’Brien, whose fingerprints are all over Springsteen and Pearl Jam’s tighter, more muscular records.

And it shows.
The 10-song set moves with intention. No meanders, no 12-minute detours. Just clean, deliberate choices.

“O’Brien focused the band in a way that allows them to deliver a unified collection,” says the Associated Press.

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Highlights That Earn Their Replay

There’s a lightness to these songs that feels earned.

• “Out in the Open” kicks things off with a buoyant ease—catchy but not pushy.

• “Squid Ink” finds its groove in the funk and grit, playful and strange in all the right ways.

Glide Magazine calls it “a call-and-response groove that brings the fun back.”

• And then there’s “River Road”, the kind of slow-burn closer that quietly expands the record’s emotional scope.

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Searching for Joy in the Ordinary

Instead of wrestling with existential dread or chasing cosmic threads, Jim James seems more content here.
The lyrics celebrate everyday moments, quiet affirmations, small wonders.

“James has found transcendence in the mundane,” writes AP News.

It’s not a record that screams for your attention—it invites it.

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👉 There’s more to the story, though. Tap below to unlock the full review—including where is stumbles, and how it stacks up in the band's legacy.