There’s a reason Jack White is coined the “Willy Wonka” of Rock and Roll, and a gaunt, ghostly resemblance to Johnny Depp’s portrayal isn’t the only thing giving him that rank.
Just listen to 'Hypermisophoniac', the fifth track off his latest album Boarding House Reach and you’ll see what I mean; the whirrs, buzzes, crackles and beeps sound like some cartoonish machinery, churning out tunes and belting out beats in a sound factory. The curator could only be the likes of a mad scientist, a magician who conjures up confoundingly colourful and sickly sweet treats.
Boarding House Reach is a step in a new direction for Jack White, the most obvious example being a departure from completely analogue recording techniques in favour of very synth and sample heavy songs. The album also steps it up a notch in eccentricity and flair, a move that was slightly teased in his previous album Lazaretto (with tracks such as 'That Black Bat Licorice'), but was still heavily rooted in its analogue tendencies. With his soundscape opening up, Jack White summons the weird and the wonderful, turning robotic noises and simulated sound effects into melodies, incorporating them with his usual conventions. (It’s also quite relevant to note that this is the first album Jack White has made using Pro Tools, the industry standard in audio workstation software, of which White has been so vocally against in the past.) From the first burst of deep synth throbbing in 'Connected By Love' to the introduction of a drum machine in 'What’s Done Is Done', this is a bold departure from anything he’s done in the past.
All of this isn’t to say that his former self is gone for good, as there is still consistency and continuity with his previous works. The song 'Over and Over and Over' is a rejected White Stripes song, reworked for his solo setup. However in this case, as he is no longer limited by a two-piece drum and guitar outfit, he is free to beef and bulk up the song, pumping it full of hormones, moving to a tight and multilayered imagining that could only find its home in his solo career. Lyricism also plays a big part in this album, as it has throughout White’s career, with many of the songs having spoken word as their focus. Poetry and the art of the word is nothing new to White, something he holds in equal regard to the musical aspect, if not more in some cases. The lyrics also have the power to transform the expression of his songs; point in case being 'What’s Done is Done', a slow, predictable country ballad that turns out to reveal the dark, twisted last resort of someone who is fed up with love.
To call Boarding House Reach a Rock album is a myopic view of the influences and intricacies that ordain this album. It is a concoction of Blues, Country, RnB, Gypsy, Electronic, Classical, Funk, Soul and more all threaded together under the guise of Rock. Only the crazed genius that is Jack White could splice and sew and concoct the Frankenstein’s monster that is Boarding House Reach.
