The Aaron Jaxon Band’s new release Saints Communion is a stunning return for the Tennessee based singer/songwriter. Music devotees haven’t heard from Jaxon since 2015’s EP release Light on the Inside but his talents have only deepened and broadened during his time away. Jaxon wrestled with substance abuse issues during his hiatus but quit drinking before considering his next musical step. The result, Saints Communion, is a ten-track collection highlighting how far he has come in the last five plus years. It likewise provides us with hints and glimpses of how far Jaxon can go.
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This album is a first, in more ways than one. Attentive readers will correctly assume Saints Communion is Jaxon’s first release sober and, as a result, there’s a great deal of reflection running through these compositions. Another first for Jaxon is the timed nature of the release. Joining a growing list of peers and contemporaries resentful of paltry payouts from platforms such as Spotify, et al, Jaxon’s Saints Communion is available exclusively through his website. It has no effect on the music, naturally, but reflects his commitment to his art and the increased clarity sobriety has bestowed on him.
There’s a “big picture” point of view guiding a lot of the album’s songwriting. The first track “Legions” artfully places his own journey in a much larger context, the human experience, and Jaxon delivers the lyrics with conviction. Careful listening to his lyrics reveals a songwriter who has calibrated his words for maximum effect. It is difficult to hear any examples of him using too many words or else threading imagery into his songs that has a cosmetic effect alone. The imagery in this song and others is fully functional.
The words for “Fire, Space and Time” blast towards listeners in a smooth roll, a downhill torrent carrying listeners along through the performance. The instrumental breaks are, as always, punchy and tie in well with the cut. It’s another lyric suffused with dramatic imagery and Jaxon doubles down on the emphatic singing of the album’s opener. “Actualize” abandons any pretense to roots music and locks into a post-alternative rock groove. It packs a well-rounded wallop that never audibly succumbs to modern production overkill and its pacing contrasts well with the album’s beginning.
Saints Communion continues barreling towards glory with the track “Pentecostal Blues”. It’s a showcase for the band’s talent crafting compelling vocal arrangements. The transition from the backing vocals into the verses will have a lot of fans and it culminates with a powerful refrain. The time away and the experiences arriving with it have galvanized Jaxon to incorporate his influences into his writing with more finesse than ever before. “House of Glass” concludes the collection with slashing riffs and a return to the rock territory he skillfully travels during the album’s beginning. It creates a tidy bookending effect for Saints Communion and the lyrics are among the album’s best. The Aaron Jaxon Band’s new release sets them on a promising path into the future.
Claire Uebelacker