Uniform Distortion

Uniform Distortion is the third studio album by American musician and lead vocalist of My Morning Jacket Jim James. It was released on June 29, 2018 under ATO Records.^[1]

Uniform Distortion
Studio album by Jim James
Released	June 29, 2018 (2018-06-29)
Studio	La La Land Studios, Louisville, Kentucky[1]
Genre	Indie rock[2]
Length	40:09
Label	ATO
Producer	Jim James Kevin Ratterman
Jim James chronology
Tribute To 2 (2017) Uniform Distortion (2018) Uniform Clarity (2018)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[3]
Metacritic	77/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
American Songwriter	[6]
Consequence of Sound	B+[7]
Exclaim!	7/10[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[10]
MusicOMH	[11]
Paste	7.9/10[12]
Pitchfork	7.6/10[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]

Production

Jim James explained the inspiration for the album came from the 1970s magazine Whole Earth Catalog. Inside the magazine was a photograph titled "Illuminated Man" by Duane Michals, which James used for the album cover.^[1] James wrote a letter to Duane in the hope he could use the photograph for the album.^[15] The album was produced by James and Kevin Ratterman at La La Land studio in Louisville, Kentucky.

Release

On April 17, 2018, Jim James announced the release of his third studio album, along with the first music video for "Just a Fool".^[15] The single was performed live on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 24, 2018.^[16]

The second single "Throwback" was released on May 31, 2018.^[17]

Critical reception

Uniform Distortion was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 77, based on 17 reviews.^[4] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 76 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 18 reviews.^[2]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic praised the album by saying: "The songs are wonderfully hooky tomes about self-reflection with societal jeremiads woven through. While it may not be any easier to make one's way through the distortion that James references, it is somehow easier to bear because of the empathy, joy, and contradiction in these songs."^[5] Owen Torrey of Exclaim said that the album "shears off some of the unrulier arrangements of James' earlier solo material, in favour of structures that emphasize immediacy and intensity. For the most part, the album is distinctly nostalgic in sound, chock full of sugary backing vocals, driving rhythms and splayed guitar lines."^[8] Oliver Kuscher from The Line of Best Fit explained the album "may be the most straightforward sounding a set of Jim James songs has ever released, but they’ve somehow absorbed the distortion of today’s world and turned it into something we can all make sense of, and in which we can seek some solace."^[10]

Track listing

Uniform Distortion track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Just a Fool"	4:00
2.	"You Get to Rome"	2:28
3.	"Out of Time"	2:51
4.	"Throwback"	5:18
5.	"No Secrets"	4:52
6.	"Yes to Everything"	4:44
7.	"No Use Waiting"	3:35
8.	"All in Your Head"	3:01
9.	"Better Late Than Never"	1:58
10.	"Over and Over"	3:38
11.	"Too Good to Be True"	3:44

Personnel

Musicians Jim James – primary artist, producer, mixing Jamie Drake – backing vocals Kathleen Grace – backing vocals Leslie Stevens – backing vocals Seth Kaufman – bass David Givan – drums

Production Bob Ludwig – mastering Kevin Ratterman – engineer, producer

Charts

Chart performance for Uniform Distortion

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18]	87
UK Americana Albums (OCC)[19]	8
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[20]	32
US Billboard 200[21]	200
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[22]	6
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[23]	5
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[24]	20
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[25]	26
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26]	48
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[27]	8
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[28]	6