J.S. Mahlon draws our attention with ambitious and eclectic new album, Childhood.
By Graeme Smith
An American singer songwriter now based in Los Angeles, J.S. Mahlon (real name Jake Schweitzer) is new to our blog thanks to his latest album, Childhood.
Set in an economically depressed small town in rural Illinois, the album acts as a collection of short stories about the characters there. If this sounds folksy, it’s not, and J.S. pushes boundaries across the album, particularly in its second half when things threaten to unravel into apocalyptic chaos, reflecting back to us the delicate world in which we obstinately continue to live.
Getting things going is, appropriately enough, Beginnings. It’s a gentle, contemplative start with a looping acoustic arrangement that slowly builds as it leads us into the melancholic storytelling of Stray Dogs. There’s real intention in how the tracks across the album fit together, and this is apparent right from this first transition. Stray Dogs also teases the eclectic style of the album, blending folk rock with psychedelia and Radiohead-esque freakouts.
Title track Childhood sees a return of the acoustic during a simmering, soulful highlight. There’s a classic rock swagger about it that spills perfectly into the bluesy and vibrant Land of the Living. The album’s middle continues in this vein with the stomping Joyride before the ghoulish Hell’s Tap marks the album’s striking change of direction.
It’s a plot twist that works and makes the album seem larger than the sum of its parts. The fact that J.S. has chosen not to just curate a collection of similar sounding tracks makes the album stand out. It feels like several records in one – in a good way.
The palate-cleansing Juniper sets up the album’s second half which gives us the moody electronic bass of Welcome to the Apocalypse, the urgent questioning of What’s the Price, and the emotional indie pop of Wasteland. The atmospheric Fire Makes New changes the mood once again before the punchy rock of How Could I Have Known and the mesmerising Childhood, Pt. Two closes the album’s journey.
Childhood features the talents of Evan Pinter and D.J. Johnson. It’s out now and you can give it a listen below.
