MASON JENNINGS > In the Ever

Mason Jennings’s first album bearing the Brushfire Records name, In the Ever, treads the pop-folk troubadour’s familiar lyrical paths of relationships and religion; but his pursuit of spiritual truth is closer to the center of this effort than on past records.

Label: BRUSHFIRE
[RATING: 3.5]

Mason Jennings’s first album bearing the Brushfire Records name, In the Ever, treads the pop-folk troubadour’s familiar lyrical paths of relationships and religion; but his pursuit of spiritual truth is closer to the center of this effort than on past records. This is evident on songs such as “I Love You and Buddha Too” (backed by Jack Johnson, owner of Brushfire) or the hymn-like “How Deep is that River.” Jennings possesses a rare talent for describing, without pretension, both earnest longing and his struggle to understand life’s intertwined pain and beauty. Unfortunately, his decision to self-record and mix much of the album-while respectable in concept-plagues some of the album’s potentially strongest tracks. Otherwise excellent songs such as “Soldier Boy” sound muddled and recessed. Yet, Mason Jennings, the man…and the musician…is clearly on a journey. Chances are good that In the Ever-which is worth hearing despite its flaws-will prove a stepping stone toward something even better.