Jack White has always been the eccentric uncle of Rock and Roll. He led the charge for the brief garage rock revival of the early 2000s with the White Stripes. While most of his contemporaries were either one or two hit wonders (The Vines, The Hives) or radically changed their styles (The Strokes, The Black Keys), The White Stripes instead doubled down on the loud, hard, and fast rock formula, injecting their records with equal amounts of anthemic rockers (“Seven Nation Army,” “Icky Thump”) and weirdo sensibilities (the entirety of Get Behind Me Satan).

At the height of their popularity Jack also played in the straightforward The Raconteurs. Then when it seemed that The White Stripes couldn’t get any bigger, White disbanded the group and went solo. Which in some way is a bit of a misnomer because The White Stripes were just him and Meg, and I doubt she offered much in the way of creative input. In any case, the move did not slow down his artistic production, since in the 15 years since the last White Stripes album he has released 3 solo albums, 2 more albums with The Raconteurs, 3 albums with the left-field and HIGHLY underrated The Dead Weather, and a western-tinged hip-hop project with producer Dangermouse.

Along with recording and touring, Jack has also been hard at work recording and releasing live shows through his label Third Man Records. And he has been the unofficial spokesperson for the vinyl record revolution, opening his own vinyl pressing plant in 2017 and recently urging major labels to invest in their own vinyl pressing operations rather than outsourcing and overloading a few manufacturers. He stated:

“To be clear, the issue is not big labels versus small labels, it’s not independent versus mainstream, it’s not even punk versus pop. The issue is, simply, we have ALL created an environment where the unprecedented demand for vinyl records cannot keep up with the rudimentary supply of them.”

His latest release on Third Man Records, Fear of the Dawn, sees the musical auteur continuing to challenge boundaries and shape a sound that is unmistakably his.  Immediately, White’s guitar tone sounds different. He approaches the instrument like a scientist, tweaking the formula with a devil may care attitude. At times he seems to be messing with the listener, creating caustic and abrasive guitar effects (“Taking it Back,” “What’s the Trick”) which evoke buzz-saws, hovercrafts skittering to a halt, and the industrial tones of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. Coupled with his snarling “I’ll bet you do!” Fear of the Dawn brims with an attitude of self-assuredness.

Over the twelve tracks, White tramples all over the possibilities of Rock and Roll, starting with the single “Hi-De-Ho” which drips with hip-hop and features bars from A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip. He continues the thread with “Into the Twilight,” his best effort a hip-hop beat tape, with Jack creating and mixing ‘samples’ curated for b-boys to throw down their cardboard mat and show off their latest moves. It has all the strangeness of a Paul’s Boutique era Rick-Rubin cut featuring Jack’s signature guitar and organ licks.

 “Eosophobia” explores 70’s psychedelia through echo effects, and “Morning, Noon, and Night” sounds like an undiscovered late 60’s British Invasion rocker. For those worried that White has strayed too far from his roots, “That Was Then, This is Now” could be a b-side from Elephant.  The album closes with “Shedding My Velvet,” the prettiest track on the album by far which concludes with a smoking guitar lick and dueling piano line.

On first listen, Fear of the Dawn might feel like a bunch of disparate ideas thrown together. But upon relistening, the individual songs start worming their way into your brain in a way that continues to draw the listener back for more. Whatever might be said of Fear of the Dawn, it’s certainly not one-note. Follow Jack White on Instagram, stream the album here, and check him out this Summer playing a city near you.