Some artists take a while to tap into their own greatness, and unfairly many of us are quick to decide that when a band or a soloist finally does make the leap into primetime status it has everything to do with a rising trend favoring their style as opposed to genuine artistic evolution. I’ve been a big Jupiter in Velvet supporter since the beginning, and while awaiting the release of his upcoming new album Beautiful New Day, I’ve seen an increasing amount of attention being levied in his direction.
I’m not about to chock up Jupiter in Velvet’s newfound success to some trend in the market because nothing could be further from the truth; Beautiful New Day sees this songwriter exploiting all of the most stylized elements of Jupiter’s sound, and it’s only due to the ignorance of the established music journalism community that he hasn’t been previously recognized for his obviously strong potential. To say that he does a good job of putting the critics to bed in these eleven tracks is more than an understatement – it’s simply unfair.
Beautiful New Day is jam-packed with exciting rock riffage and evocative pop themes that relate to almost any listener who enjoys prime audiological carnage, but the song “U Can’t Beat Me” stands out as one of the record’s most enjoyable highlights. It’s a crushing, defining moment for Jupiter in Velvet’s storied discography, and I would even go as far as to argue that it is highly indicative of what we can expect rock music to sound like in the 2020s. There’s a futuristic vibe to Beautiful New Day that gives off the strong impression that we’re listening to something that is ahead of its time, carefully compressed into a format that we can consume and understand with ease. No detail was spared in the creation of this record, and musicians especially are able to appreciate the weight of these tracks courtesy of the stellar production value featured here.
If Jupiter in Velvet keeps making records that are as sprawling and dedicatedly efficient as Beautiful New Day, the mainstream attention that has thus far evaded him for the duration of his relatively short career will be impossible to avoid. My only hope is that as his fame continues to skyrocket and his music becomes exposed to a much wider audience than he’s used to is that he stays true to the blue-collar roots that have gotten him this far. A lot of artists start to lose their core identity when the glitz and glamor of a camera flash blinds them on the way out of the studio, and I would hate to see the same thing happen to Jupiter in Velvet. My gut tells me that he’s a special case, however; there’s nothing in Beautiful New Day that tells me he’s planning on selling out anytime soon. On the contrary, he’s embarking on a whole new era of his life and craft, and we the audience are going to be the ones to reap all of the rewards.
Purchase the record HERE.
-review by Jodi Marxbury
