Jandek - Shadow of Leaves - Review

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Besides a few exceptions from his later era, the only human being to ever appear on Jandek album covers was Sterling Smith himself. On some albums he makes this concept of self-portraiture extremely obvious, either by zooming in very close on his face so no one else can be seen (i.e. Chair Beside a Window) or obviously photoshopping out the background of the picture entirely (i.e. London Residency). Some very astute fans noticed that the trees on the cover of Shadow of Leaves repeat themselves, suggesting something was edited out of the photo. The lack of any other faces among the multitudes of covers really emphasizes the theme of loneliness in Jandek's music; but also, the album covers with his face are rather revealing for a man who's a self-proclaimed recluse and never reveals any information about himself. 

Shadow of Leaves continues the unplugged bass playing. Either the tuning of the bass or the playing technique seems to have changed, because many of the strums have a warped quality to them, which kept it slightly fresh, but not by much. The album was overall very hypnotic, and I enjoyed listening to it while on a sweltering-hot walk in the park, but it’s not necessarily that great or notable.

The 29-minute title track takes up the vast majority of the album. The vocal delivery is anxious and sometimes intense, similar to the previous acoustic period, but not as wholly so as on albums such as I Threw You Away. I was pleasantly surprised as I re-read the lyrics on this track because it’s one of the most poignant stories I’ve ever heard on a Jandek song. It describes Jandek’s experience with a dead or dying romantic partner throughout their lives. My interpretation of the beginning is that the partner has lost some ability to function and Jandek is willing to help her no matter what. It transitions to fragmented reminiscences of the times they spent together, which moves fast from images of walking together to drinking in the rain among other scenarios. He questions the permanence of what they had as he reveals his lover is dead, and he visits her grave and imagines being in heaven together. The song is so personal and specific that I genuinely feel sorry for him, and it would be hard to believe it’s not based on a true story. The constant themes of death within Jandek lyrics would lead me to believe so. Even “Down in a Mirror”, one of the most important tracks from his early era, describes being haunted by a ghost of a dead lover. My favorite aspects of the title track are Jandek’s devotion to his lover’s wellbeing, and his acknowledgements of thankfulness and hope.

Two shorter tracks make up the rest of the album. The musical technique is the same. “Find Me Again” is, to me, about Jandek describing how good he is at hide-and-seek. The song may be related to his reclusive nature and his career and how he never lets anyone know anything about him. 

“I Give You Me” sounds like Jandek giving an elevator pitch about himself to someone who’s about to break up with him to convince them not to leave him. It’s interesting, but it feels very shallow. A few lines continue a theme of weirdly sexual imagery that first appeared in the middle of “Shadow of Leaves”.

This is closer in quality to the spoken word albums. I wish there were more tracks, honestly. The title track has some of his finest poetry, but is too long to replay, and the other two tracks are just alright.

6.5/10

Essential album?: No