Jack White- Fear of the Dawn

Graham Craycraft

Jack White is a household name when it comes to garage rock. He had many years of success with the White Stripes while also working with his two other groups The Dead Weather and his ongoing group The Raconteurs. The Raconteurs’ most recent album Help Us Stranger released in 2019 was the best thing White has released since his 2014 solo release Lazaretto. Both Help Us Stranger and Lazaretto rocked. They felt like a solid continuation of his style that also added in some funk and utilization of sound mixing. 

Fear of the Dawn is White’s fourth solo release. His first two (Blunderbuss and Lazaretto) were fantastic. Stuff that can go toe to toe with the best of his White Stripes’ stuff. His third release Boarding House Reach was truly awful. Hands down his worst project. Check out my thoughts on that album here. White said that he tries to do something new every time he releases a project, that he doesn’t want to feel like he is doing the same thing on repeat. Well, if that is his goal, he has succeeded. Unfortunately for fans, that means we will have to wait awhile before receiving a completely listenable album. 

White wrote and recorded most of this album alone during the pandemic and plays the majority of instruments himself then mixes them together. This album (thankfully) is not as bad as Boarding House Reach, but that is not a tough act to beat. Songs on this album are cluttered with crashing guitar, messy drums, and feel ultimately like an attempt to be different for different’s sake. Louisville, KY, where I spent a significant number of my formative years, has signs everywhere that say “keep Louisville weird.” I know this is not unique, but it is a clear mistake that communities and people strive towards. “Be yourself” or maybe more appropriately “be better” should be the advice people are giving and receiving. If better is weird, then great! That’s how White operated in the White Stripes. Think of songs like “You’re Pretty Good Looking for a Girl” or “Little Acorns.” Weird freaking songs. Great songs! Then you get songs like “Eosophobia” and “What’s the Trick” on this album that are simply mistakes. There is no redeeming factor to be found. There are some better songs such as "Shedding My Velvet" and the juiced up cover "Hi-De-Ho," but they cannot save the others.

Mr. White, we all dig your oddity and desire to break the mold you see around music, but what is this? Does this seem like music that people want to hear?

Jack White is a living legend and on some tracks you can hear the mastery of his work, but overall this album is a mess. Better than his previous, but that still makes it his second worst release out of any project he has done. White has already announced that another "softer" album will be released the summer of this year. Let's hope softer also means better.