THE BLACK PILGRIM

July 2013 saw the 12th studio album from Jump, one in many ways that they have been working towards throughout their career. Steve 'Ronnie' Rundle has taken on the bass role in addition to his normal duties, and the only guest this time is Alice Atkinson with violin on a couple of the songs (she also played on the last album). But this time Mo is also contributing accordion as well as keyboards and the two Steves have gone acoustic while Andy isn't as prominent as is usual. Yes, Jump have moved far more into the realms of acoustic folk, although to be honest the overall sound isn't as far removed from their normal sound as one might expect. As I have said before, I have always viewed Jump as an 'English' band as opposed to progressive, and with this album they have shown that they have much in common with the mighty Show of Hands, another band who have always stuck to their own agenda, playing hundreds of gigs and producing one wonderful album after another.

There is purity to this album that is hard to define, with one great song after another, full of emotion and wonderful music, while JDJ shows yet again why he is so highly regarded as a singer. Whatever song I am playing is my favourite, and I have found myself returning to this album time and again as it is such a delight from the start to the very end. Beautiful songs, extremely well constructed with great arrangements, careful thought being given to the amount of space required between the instruments and between the notes, with room for John to add to the magic. Back in 1991 Jump released their wonderful debut, 'The Winds of Change', and some 22 years later and countless gigs four of the six people who performed on that album are still there. Over the years their music has changed, and they have changed with it, but unlike many they have continued to grow and with this, in many ways their simplest and most roots-based album, they have created the finest of their career. Indispensible. www.jumprock.co.uk