The Waterfall II
| My Morning Jacket
The Waterfall II
The Waterfall II is the eighth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket, released on July 10, 2020. Made up of recordings made in 2013 that also produced the 2015 release The Waterfall, this psychedelic pop work has received positive reviews from critics. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
When they recorded 2015’s late-career highlight The Waterfall, MMJ wrote enough material for two albums. If the original was about conflict, the new volume concerns the healing that comes after.
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All Music
The Waterfall II offers no clues as to where My Morning Jacket might be headed, but as a document of what they were capable of in the studio, it's consistent, well-structured, and satisfying in a way the original was not.
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Sputnik Music
My Morning Jacket’s best album in fifteen years, flawed but beautiful.
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Loud and Quiet
The anti-gun psychedelia of ‘Magic Bullet’, the playful ‘Climbing The Ladder’ and the soothing ‘Welcome Home’ serve as intermittent reminders of the band’s potency – but it never sparks the sustained breakthrough that the sound threatens. By no means a bad trip but hardly revelatory.
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The Young Folks
The Waterfall II is tightly-woven, wholly genuine, and admirably sensitive. It’s perfect for your fall soundtrack.
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The Fire Note
The Waterfall II will no doubt be greeted warmly by fans as these songs certainly deserve an airing, but if anything it creates a hunger for new material from this Louisville band, that speaks more directly to this unique moment.
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Under the Radar Magazine
Between the arc of the lyrical content and the band’s signature sound, The Waterfall II holds together nicely, and doesn’t feel at all like a B-sides collection or tracks that have been moldering on a shelf somewhere. Instead, there’s an almost novelistic structure supported by absolutely electric moments scattered throughout the 10 songs.
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The Wall Street Journal
A Rush of Inspiration From Years Ago.
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DC Music Review
Overall, this may not prove to be the album by which our summer is sound tracked and memorialized in the traditional since – thanks COVID-19 – but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most notable releases of the summer, or even 2020 so far. Instead, think of it is essential listening for those days and/or nights spent on a porch with the smell of summer and bug spray and barbeque in the air, sipping cold beers, and (from a reasonable social distance), discussing with friends just what the hell is next – not just for the world, but from My Morning Jacket.
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No Ripcord
The Waterfall II could be described as a belated gift from a band who held back because they didn't keep the receipt.
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NPR
After all, a waterfall can beat you down if you're standing right under it, but take a few steps back and it just might prove inspirational.
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Stomp and Stammer
I think MMJ fans will love The Waterfall II, and I think everyone else, per usual, won’t. AND THAT’S OKAY! Jim James is comfy. So are his fans. He’ll have some here and theres but everything else is tepid to you and me. The Waterfall II has some good licks, it’s a pleasant stroll, but do you remember your last walk in the park with stark fondness? Not unless you were on drugs or it was earlier today.
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Tinnitist
The Waterfall II mines its mood of dreamy contemplation from certain heartbreak James had recently experienced, including the demise of a monumental relationship. Unfolding in a loosely threaded narrative of loss and recovery, the album conjures an indelible pain but never drifts into despair, gracefully conveying James’s message that “there is hope beyond the pain and loss, if you learn to flow with life like water.”
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Stereogum
Yet no matter how you frame The Waterfall II for yourself, it’s a beautiful and unexpected curiosity — existing not as an add-on or in response to The Waterfall, but suggesting that we’re just now getting to hear the whole conversation between two very different yet completely intertwined works.
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Lyric Magazine
Coming at a dark time, The Waterfall II is a welcome surprise for rock fans, and will surely be devoured by MMJ’s devout fanbase. There’s a lot of joyfulness here, especially in the third track, the upbeat “Climbing the Ladder.” It’s perfect music to bliss out to while you watch the summer sunset.
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Consequence of Sound
My Morning Jacket’s The Waterfall II Offers a Slice of Thoughtful Summer Escapism.
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Exclaim!
My Morning Jacket's 'The Waterfall II' Is the Culmination of a Creative Explosion.
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Our Culture Magazine
If you’re looking for the kind of wide-eyed nostalgia only My Morning Jacket can deliver, this new album probably won’t disappoint; but it fails to replicate their most transcendent moments, and you can’t help but be left with the feeling that James and company can do a lot more.
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