As My Morning Jacket readies the release of its sixth record Circuital, frontman Jim James also is nearing completion of his first full-length solo album. James told The A.V. Club today that he’s “80 percent done” with the record, which he expects to come out early next year. When asked how the album compares with My Morning Jacket, James was vague on details, though it sounds like it won’t be a radical departure from MMJ.
“I think it’s pretty different, but there’s obviously similarities, just because it’s my voice,” said James, who describes the album as “a comfortably lounging around the house thing, doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I just love playing all sorts of different instruments, so I just wanted to be able to do that, and mess around with whatever I wanted to."
James, who released a collection of George Harrison covers under the name Yim Yames on 2009's Tribute To EP, said that while “we could probably play any of those songs with My Morning Jacket,” he felt they fit better on a solo record. “Some of the songs have a genetic code or something. They tell me they want to be on a solo record.”
My Morning Jacket will release Circuital on May 31. You can read our full interview with James later this month on The A.V. Club.