Satirically blasphemous shots were fired at the military-industrial complex and the absurdity of piety in the latest single, Our Men, from one of the UK’s most enigmatic originators, J.
Having already witnessed J through his single Shame on You, we knew to expect a certain degree of endearing obscurity in this single, described as a stimulation of humour, intellect, emotion, body and soul, yet the one-man powerhouse exceeded all expectations in the spacey chorally psychedelic pop-rock hit that simultaneously gives Jonathan Pie, Prince and The Beatles a run for their money.
The cleverly meta single delivers intricate layers of depth that stack up to stand as a monolithic testament to J’s ingenuity. Not one to throw himself into expositions half-heartedly, Our Men cracks open the psyche of a warped military captain turned priest with a penchant for invasion and occupation. The parallels of tyrannical control were always there, it just took an audaciously bold artist to create a sonic boardwalk between them.
The guitar work that could make angels cry as it soars throughout the gospel-esque pop production towards the outro is the icing on this arcane parody’s cake. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear what J sinks his lyrical teeth into next.
Stream the official music video for Our Men when it premieres on YouTube on May 15th.
Review by Amelia Vandergast