Recommended Tracks: “Better Than You,” “Human,” “Land of Light,” “Sunsetter”
Artists You Might Like: flipturn, The Backseat Lovers, Del Water Gap
Sometimes it’s not about a name but an ideal. Knoxville-based alt-singer Briston Maroney comes to terms with an amalgam of people and places that shaped his identity on his third studio album. In a world that is very different after your parents’ divorce as a kid, Maroney gives us two worlds — one that is laid-back and raw in North Florida and one that is more structured and ultimately privileged in Knoxville. On his third studio album, Jimmy — an ideal of someone rough around the edges, wild and raw but also loved — Maroney explores the great expectations of being split within his identity and leans into heavy punk rock vibes that differ from his more indie sound. Thus, “Jimmy” was born.
Following the title track and intro, the album opens with “Tomatoes” — a grungy exploration of post-adolescence frustration and defiance — and when you’re young, that unfiltered question arises: “Who am I?”. With a blend of humor, grit and vulnerability, Maroney is forced to stay out of the old high school traps when he was younger, like fitting in and conforming (“You want me to live like you, that’s something I’ll never do”). It’s hard to fit in when everything feels pressuring. But sometimes it’s the small victories that take hold on the dreamlike “Real Good Swimmer.” While seemingly silly, Maroney reflects on survival and those he loves, explaining that he went for a jog one day in Los Angeles and imagined himself crawling through a hole in the fence and becoming the king of the gizzards in the river.
After being torn into being better than others and rifling with insecurity, rivalry and jealousy on “Better Than You,” Maroney is at his most self-aware on “Bullshit.” Here, he’s torn between being cynical and sentimental and ultimately captures an all-consuming conflict on Jimmy. While it’s own contradiction, the song reflects on his life — hating the music industry, but enjoying pretending to play the game to wanting to stay, but always ready to run. He sings, “You said this is all bullshit / Of course it’s all bullshit / But if it’s all bullshit / I guess I love bullshit.”
In what feels like an interlude, “Human” sees Maroney feeling betrayed and losing trust in someone he loved or admired, and he’s almost trapped in his own disillusionment. The song, which is only one minute and 32 seconds long, opens with powerful early 2000s rock vibes, with drums from the All-American Rejects‘ punk rock era. Maroney feels trapped and powerless as he essentially loses an already-losing relationship. On it, he sings, “Time has a way of excusing the reasons we even try / I can feel you coming, what am I to do? / How could you be human? But hurt me like you weren’t.” Despite retaining the old punk runk vibes of the 1990s and 2000s, “The View” leans far more into some existential sadness and forces Maroney to essentially peer back the curtain to find “the view,” because Maroney sees everything crumbling before him and wants a different distraction.
Of an album filled with jealousy, struggle and even existential decay, “Land of Light” marks a significant shift in the album’s tone as we near the conclusion, as we see Maroney turn over a new leaf. One of the only ballads that includes acoustic guitar strumming, this song almost feels like Maroney surrendering all that anguish and heartbreak into what he calls a “fishing line.” It feels hopeful, accepting and peaceful — which comes as a surprise in an album that is so fraught with sadness. He sings, “Let my legacy be these friends of mine / blowing in the wind just like fishing line.”
Through mental exhaustion, isolation and regret, “DNA” and “Sunsetter” feel like you’re nearing the end of this fight for who you are. As Maroney struggles with loyalty and sinks into both brokenness and belonging at the same time on “DNA,” and then boils into this slow loneliness on “Sunsetter,” where you just need to escape. By the time the final track rolls around, Maroney is letting go of everything tearing him apart throughout the album. On “Be Yourself,” Maroney faces identity, fear, emotional turmoil and needing to break free, despite feeling you’re stuck in a trap beyond your power. Maroney finishes this existential punk-rock album grieving who he was before and in a desperate cry for control and to be real, truly learns who he is and that no one can take it away.
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