CD Review: My Morning Jacket

After three epic albums of increasing depth and scope, My Morning Jacket scale back on Circuital, a quieter, almost reserved record that sounds more like a detour than a forward move. The band recorded its sixth album live in a church gym in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. And despite the let-loose titles of some songs — "Outta My System," "Holdin on to Black Metal," "You Wanna Freak Out" — Circuital's real inspiration comes from another cut, "Slow Slow Tune." The only song to stretch past six minutes is the winding title track, the album's highlight. All this freedom from fussy arrangements and grand ambition leaves plenty of room for focus on frontman Jim James' concentrated songwriting, which zeroes in on core structures. It still moves, but in a different way. — Michael Gallucci