acclaimed fifth album Plum, The Jacket feels like a full-circle moment

for the duo of singer-songwriter Molly Hamilton and guitarist Robert

Earl Thomas. Thematically, it considers Plum’s broader questions

about the values ascribed to one’s time and labor through the more

refined lens of performance and music-making. This is due in part to

the band’s recent return to New York City, the site of their own origin

story, where they recorded The Jacket at the Diamond Mine with co-producer and noted Daptone Records affiliate Homer Steinweiss.

Reunions always breed reflection, and Hamilton admits that much

of the album’s themes are tied to formative experiences in the

band’s own early years. Some songs speak to the process of moving

on (“Unwind”, “Salt”), while others muse about regret (“True Blue”,

“Forget It”). The album’s namesake track considers the literal and

figurative costumes we dress our personalities in: imbued with

meaning and sense of time and place, becoming so representative

of who we think we are before they’re ultimately left behind. The

symbolic spaces of work, music, nightlife are seen through the haze

of recalling one’s own unknown legends.

Sonically, The Jacket finds the band at their usual and best: dynamics

shift seamlessly between gentle, drifting ballads and twangy jams,

built up from layered guitars, dusty percussion and ambling bass

lines. Elsewhere: whimsical flutes, choral textures, and basement

organs. Thomas’s guitar playing is as lyrical and emotive as it’s ever

been, and Hamilton’s voice: comfortable and effortless. This seamless

dynamic is amplified perfectly in the mix by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah

Yeahs, Beach House). Widowspeak expertly pepper in slow-core,

dream-pop, pacific northwest indie, and outlaw country, resulting in a

60s-meets-90s aesthetic. This sense of sonic nostalgia adds another

layer to lyrics that reflect on old selves, invented and true.

The Jacket is a wizened meditation on performance and past lives

from a band who’ve seen their fair share, hitting their stride now over

a decade in.