MAX JURY, AVENUES

Max Jury's 2016 debut album was one of my favorites of that year. Since it's release, I've been waiting with anticipation for an album by Jury that measures up to it or at least comes close. His 2019 album, Modern World, while good, was not it. Fortunately for me, Jury's latest album, Avenues, is the follow album that I've been waiting for. 

Jury has said that Avenues is the album that he's always wanted to make. And that it's the closest that he's come to being his true self as an artist. You get that sense listening to Avenues. While you can still hear the younger artist in him...the one inspired and influenced by a number singer/songwriters and artists of the '70's...Jury finds a musical lane that feels uniquely his. And it's one that suits him well. 

Woven throughout the ten songs on Avenues is Jury's expression as an artist. It's one where there is no need to hurry to get from one point to another and raise his voice or songs to the rafters to emphasis a point. There's a calmness, a gentleness, a contemplativeness, a melancholiness, and a subtleness to these songs. They feel as if Jury has placed a warm blanket around them on a cool spring morning and said that everything is going to be OK.....or maybe that's just how they made me feel. Either way, it's a great feeling and I'm happy for the place where Jury is on his journey as an artist.