2019 has produced a mixed-bag of results among indie musicians, but in the case of Jupiter in Velvet’s new record Anthems 2 Love, the creative energy of this one-man-band is flowing as strongly as it ever has. In Anthems 2 Love, Jupiter in Velvet doesn’t try to change the world of alternative music as we know it so much as he reshapes his sound to meet the needs of a discriminating generation of fans eager for something fresh and intuitive. Songs like the EP-opening “A Cooler Shade of Mad” and discordant “Stand Up” are as vibrant and provocative as they come, and in some ways exercise this songwriter’s muscles in a way they’ve never been before.
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The guitars are as much of a star of the lead vocal is in this record, and in “If Not Peace… (Then it’s War)” and “Forever & a Day,” they provide us with more of an emotional context than any one particular verse does. Jupiter in Velvet likes to communicate with his audience through multiple channels at once, and despite all the multifaceted nature of Anthems 2 Love, nothing ever winds up getting twisted or lost in translation – in fact, the exact opposite.
If there’s clarity to be found in the enigmas adorning the poetry in Anthems 2 Love, it comes from the percussive backbone more often than not. “The Greatest Gift” gets a cathartic boost from its drums that essentially saves the track from descending into an ironic dirge, and though they’re not quite as well-integrated into the mix in “Stand Up,” I can’t see the latter song being as engaging as it ultimately is without the presence of the easy-going beats in the background. It’s a methodical record for sure, but not one that I would tell occasional pop fans to steer clear from.
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The vocal harmonies in “If Not Peace… (Then it’s War)” and “We Are All One” are absolutely exquisite, and it’s no doubt thanks to the careful attention to detail that was paid to every element of this EP behind the soundboard. You don’t have to be an expert music critic to appreciate the amount of time and care that must have gone into designed Anthems 2 Love to be as formidable an extended play as a six-track release can be, but those of us who care a bit more about intricacies than the average pop consumer does can cherish it as a much-needed shot of life this winter.
I’m really looking forward to hearing more from Jupiter in Velvet over the next few years still to come, and if Anthems 2 Love gives us any sort of indication as to what we can expect to hear out of his experiments both in and outside of the studio in the 2020’s, then there should be no debating whether or not this man is going to be a major player in the next decade. He’s got the chops to accomplish just about anything he wants to, and I just can’t say that for most independent artists right now.
Loretta Kim