Album Review: Jack's Mannequin - People And Things

Fans of Jack's Mannequin know of the turmoil of leukemia that front man Andrew McMahon has bravely fought (as documented in the heart breaking 'Dear Jack' movie) and 2008's 'The Glass Passenger' reflected on this with its much darker lyrical content and general wintery themes. A contrast to his prior effort 'Everything In Transit', always labelled as a "Summer Album". 'People & Things' shows McMahon's progression that he has made with his fans and, on this album, tackles themes of marriage, life on the road and nostalgia.

The opening chords of 'My Racing Thoughts' bring forth a fresh perspective of Jack's Mannequin, complimented with 80's synthesizers and singalongs. Andrew joyfully sings, "I think I'm running short on inspiration, she's running long on borrowed time". Whilst alternatively, "Hey Hey Hey (We're All Gonna Die)" nods to the morose sound that Andrew found on previous effort 'The Glass Passenger', even as going so far as to reference the aforementioned album in the opening bars, the chorus is possibly one of the most anthemic melodies on the album.

'Restless Dream' may remind fans of Andrew's versatility in past songs such, most notably "At Full Speed", with Bobby "Raw" Anderson leading this one with a rich country tinged finger picking motion on his guitar behind McMahon's fragile voice lamenting in the chorus "Oh my imagination running wild, I guess I missed you from the day that we first met". Returning to the original pop sensibilities of Jack's Mannequin, Andrew has written some of the finest Jack's Mannequin songs to date and his voice has aged gracefully since his days in Something Corporate. Fans will enjoy the progression made from Jack's Mannequin's last album.

4.5/5

'People And Things' is out now.

George Gadd