By Joshua Wallace
Cody Jinks is back with his follow up to 2018’s Lifers release. This time around he’s releasing 2 different albums a week a part. This is a different strategy from the typical double album release most artists would do with this kind of output. However, I feel like these two albums stand out on their own. Each record has its own loose lyrical theme with After The Fire focusing on the aftermath of events and The Wanting focusing on opposites like light vs dark and good vs evil. Jinks worked with some of his common co-writers on these albums. Names fans will be familiar with like Josh Morningstar, Ward Davis, Tennessee Jet and Paul Cauthen are all here. There really isn’t a bad track on either of these albums, but here are a few of my favorites.
After The Fire
This album kicks off with the title track “After The Fire”. It describes the lows of a man who lost it all and the thing that potentially saves him in the end. It’s a perfect introduction to the theme of this album which appears to be touching on the aftermath of certain events through one’s life. I love the great pedal steel work on this one. “Yesterday Again” continues the theme with a song taking place after a breakup. Jinks is looking back and wanting to do “yesterday again” and hoping for the best the second time around. It’s a great piece of songwriting and a track that will resonate with a lot of listeners.
Up next is the song “Think Like You Think”. This track originally appeared on one of Cody’s early albums called Collector’s Item. These are no longer in production, so this remake of the song is putting the track back out there. It’s a great tune that follows a character after a drunken bender and his wife gets onto him because his actions do not follow his beliefs. I love the message here and the play of light vs dark and good vs evil with this very sobering song.
Another amazing song on this record is the tearjerker “William and Wanda”. It follows an elderly couple finally meeting again in the afterlife. I won’t describe this one any further because it truly must be heard to appreciated. “One Good Decision” picks the pace back up on a track that is sure to be a fan favorite live. It’s about a man who has had his night at the bar and isn’t really struggling with the decision he has to make on whether to go home or cheat because he’s got a good thing at home. It’s a lyrical take on the end of the night at the bar song you don’t hear very often.
The Wanting
“Same Kind Of Crazy As Me” is going to be the anthem of these two records. I expect this one to be on Jinks setlists for a while. It’s a great tune right in line with his other most popular songs and it will resonate with a lot of his fans. “Never Alone Always Lonely” is a song that is about how you can always be lonely even in a crowd. I personally know this feeling very well. Lyrically Jinks plays off that theme a lot with lines like “Easy to find, seldom seen”. It’s a very well written song that captures that feeling that a lot of people don’t always get.
I really dig the imagery in “Which One I Feed”. It’s a song that highlights the lyrical theme of light vs dark and opposites in this album. “It Don’t Rain In California” is another well written song about a breakup where “She said she needed sunshine / She had enough of clouds” and California represents the sunshine and the main character of the song is the clouds. It continues the play on opposites that you see throughout this album and it’s really clever.
“Ramble” is a cover of the Chris Hennessee song from his 2018 album of the same name. Jinks does a great cover here and I love how he always represents artists who don’t always get their due on a big stage like this. If you’re not familiar with Chris Hennessee, I highly recommend checking out his work. Finally the album closes out with “The Raven And The Dove”. It’s another song of opposites about how some days can be good and some can be bad. The acoustic guitar work is the highlight here as it plays off a foot stomping beat and I can imagine this one being a live favorite as well.
Conclusion
These two albums include some of Cody Jink’s best work. There isn’t a bad track in the bunch and there are some that many fans will call their new favorites. Personally, I think The Wanting is my favorite disc of the two, but it is very close. I will admit, when he announced that he was releasing two separate albums instead of one double disc, my main concern was that these songs would be thrown on each of the albums with no rhyme or reason for them being there. You can put that concern to rest as the track listings for each album make sense and carry their own lyrical themes throughout each record. As a final note, I hope to be able to catch Cody Jinks live next month and report back here with some live reviews of these new tracks so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, After The Fire is out October 11th, 2019 and The Wanting is out October 18th, 2019 and you can find them anywhere.
Cody Jinks – After The Fire (2019)
Favorite Tracks (After The Fire) : Ain’t A Train, Yesterday Again, Think Like You Think, William And Wanda, One Good Decision
- After The Fire
- Ain’t A Train
- Yesterday Again
- Tell ‘Em What It’s Like
- Think Like You Think
- William And Wanda
- One Good Decision
- Dreamed With One
- Someone To You
- Tonedeaf Boogie
Cody Jinks – The Wanting (2019)
Favorite Tracks (The Wanting) : Same Kind Of Crazy As Me, Never Alone Always Lonely, Which One I Feed, It Don’t Rain In California, Ramble, The Raven And The Dove
- The Wanting
- Same Kind Of Crazy As Me
- Never Alone Always Lonely
- Whiskey
- Where Angels Fear To Fly
- Which One I Feed
- A Bite Of Something Sweet
- The Plea
- It Don’t Rain In California
- Wounded Mind
- Ramble
- The Raven And The Dove
