hypersongs

Z

The breakthrough album, recorded in the Catskills with John Leckie.
My Morning Jacket, 2005

The band recorded away from Louisville, at Allaire in the Catskill Mountains. Andrew Bird plays strings and whistles on three tracks and M. Ward plays acoustic guitar and sings on "Into the Woods". A Marquee magazine piece posted on the fan forum says Leckie gave frank feedback on takes and vocals. US pressings shipped with MediaMax CD-3 copy protection; the band's manager criticized it and the band published bypass instructions and offered copy-free CDs, and later pressings dropped it. Singles were "Off the Record" (October 10, 2005) and "Gideon" (2006). The album's reviews included Mojo 5 of 5, NME 9 of 10, AllMusic 4.5, Rolling Stone 4 and Pitchfork 7.6.

PopMatters's John Bergstrom grouped "Dondante" with "Gideon" and "Lay Low" as tracks with bigger drums, extended jams and Southern grit. A 20th anniversary deluxe edition came out in October 2025.

Track listing

  1. Wordless Chorus4:12
  2. It Beats for You3:46
  3. Gideon3:39
  4. What a Wonderful Man2:25
  5. Off the Record5:33
  6. Into the Woods5:21
  7. Anytime3:56
  8. Lay Low6:05
  9. Knot Comes Loose4:02
  10. Dondante8:01

More from My Morning Jacket

The Tennessee Fire (1999), At Dawn (2001), It Still Moves (2003), Okonokos (2006), Evil Urges (2008), Circuital (2011), The Waterfall (2015), The Waterfall II (2020), My Morning Jacket (2021), Is (2025), Peacelands (2026)

Sources

  1. Z (My Morning Jacket album), Wikipedia
  2. My Morning Jacket, Z, PopMatters (2005-09-29)
  3. Z 20th Anniversary Edition, God Is in the TV (2025-10-10)