Lazaretto is Jack White’s latest step toward a fuller, denser sound. named after the Italian word for a leper’s hospital, Lazaretto (Third Man/Columbia) showcases some of White’s most complex work yet, though much of it suffers from overproduction and under-reflection.
Lazaretto is Jack White’s latest step toward a fuller, denser sound. named after the Italian word for a leper’s hospital, Lazaretto (Third Man/Columbia) showcases some of White’s most complex work yet, though much of it suffers from overproduction and under-reflection.
“Three Women” launches the album with White’s classic dirty blues-rock sound. A Hammond B3 adds an interesting layer to this upbeat song, which otherwise comes out surprisingly bland and forgettable. A chorus of simply “lawdy-lawd” repeated multiple times is interjected as White tells a vaguely douchey story about having affairs with women in different cities (obviously Jack White isn’t too concerned about his image when it comes to women anymore). To White’s credit, the song is based on a classic song by blues musician Blind Willie McTell, though White’s braggadocious additions to the lyrics (“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking/What gives you the right?/Well, these women must be getting something/‘Cause they come and see me every night”) make it hard to sympathize with his verses about being “lonely.”
The album’s title track and first single rides on a catchy bass guitar riff, and a half-time drum groove that’s hard to resist moving to (drummer Carla Azar of Autolux, one of my favorite bands, is one of the best parts of this album). Sadly, the song fails to rise much off this sturdy foundation – Jack White’s lyrics about falling into insanity (“I have no time left/Time is lost, no time at all, throw it in a garbage can”) are grabbing, but the song feels muddled with unnecessary background synth noises and distortion, culminating in a headache-inducing out-of-tune violin solo.
The overwhelming nature of “Lazaretto” makes for a jarring transition to the mostly acoustic “Temporary Ground.” Fellow Nashvillian Ruby Amanfu, a regular White collaborator, adds country-inflected harmonies that mesh well with White’s verses about feeling adrift and unsafe. Amanfu sings solo over a piano riff on the song’s truly poetic chorus (“Moving without motion/Screaming without sound/Across an open ocean/Lying there on temporary ground”). Unlike “Lazaretto,” the violin solos in this song fit well into the song’s folky feel.
Among the album’s remaining cuts, the electrified numbers struggle. “High Ball Stepper,” an instrumental track with bizarre piano interludes and a synth riff that resembles screeching, sounds like a blues musician testing out effects pedals, while “That Black Bat Licorice” seems like a rip-off of “Icky Thump” with better drums. “Would You Fight for My Love?,” an upbeat track with grooving, quiet verses and stadium-rock choruses, was a standout for me among this album’s electric songs, though its second-half degenerates into the previously mentioned tendency toward superfluous racket. “Just One Drink” is catchy as well, with a swamp rock feel and melody reminiscent of The Georgia Satellites.
On acoustic songs like “Entitlement,” I found Jack White’s songwriting talent most conspicuous. The song talks of White grappling with living in a country where so many expect so much, and does so beautifully. “There are children who are lied to/They’re told the world is rightfully theirs/They can have what they, whenever they want/They take like Caesar, and nobody cares/They live like Caesar, and nobody cares.” “Want and Able” is a moving story of feeling powerless to act on one’s desires, told through two metaphorical characters. “Now, Want and Able, are two different things/One is desire, and the other is the means/Like I wanna hold you, and see you, and feel you in my dreams/But that’s not possible, something simply won’t let me.”
Since moving on from the ultra-stripped-down dynamic of The White Stripes, and his subsequent fleshed-out bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, White has now released two solo albums with personnel lists of almost 20 names – Lazaretto includes people playing African drums, steel guitar, clavinet and harp. For a diehard White Stripes fan such as myself, it’s strange to listen to Jack White sing with so much stuff happening in the background. Perhaps this is why I felt this album shone on its more minimal numbers, namely “Temporary Ground,” “Entitlement” and “Want and Able.”
Jack White’s PR people have themselves admitted that this album’s songs “have little to do with each other;” they claim this as one of Lazaretto’s strengths. The 11 songs cover a lot of different genres and feels, and unless you hate everything Jack White, you’re bound to find something you like on Lazaretto.
