Mark
Greaney vocals, guitars, keyboards, piano Hilary Woods bass Fergal Matthews
drums
When JJ72 released their
eponymous debut album in the year 2000, mainman Mark Greaney already
sounded wiser than his 20 years and his teenage looks. The album went
on to sell 500,000 copies worldwide and spawned three TOP 30 UK hit
singles - 'Oxygen', 'October Swimmer' and 'Snow' - but it also split
the critics straight down the middle.
"The first album had a black cover and, because of the lyrics I
write and because I like to wear black clothes, people thought we were
miserable. We were, perhaps, too eager in the way we wanted to be portrayed,"
reflects Mark. "It put a bit of a smokescreen in front of the music.
We're more relaxed now."
The formerly-angsty JJ72 relaxed? Whatever next? But Greaney, bassist
Hillary Woods and drummer Feargal Matthews can afford to be relaxed.
With I To Sky, the Dublin trio have recorded a second album which transcends
the promise of their strong debut and considerably widens their sonic
palette and emotional spectrum.
"I think this album is optimistic and very uplifting. I wanted
to take something personal and try to make it universal. I did write
lyrics with other people in mind not because I want to fill huge arenas
- well I do - but because I want to leave something behind that has
substance to it, not just a rant and a moan," stresses the singer.
"Maybe I've matured a little but I've understood it's important
to make music with the idea of comforting people, not solving their
problems but making them a little easier."
Indeed, on tracks like the uplifting Formulae (the album's lead-off
single), the soothing Brother Sleep and the elegiac Oiche Mhaith, JJ72
provide an emotional touchstone and articulate the spiritual yearning
of our secular age.
"I don't think that anybody's ever going to be able to figure that
out, what is that pain, that yearning within them. You start to sample
things that you think are going to fill the void but the void never
fills," says Greaney. "Many people want to steer clear of
writing about religion but it has always shaped the world, especially
over the past year so it's very important for young people not to run
away from that. I'm not scared of saying my religion and my upbringing
have a lot to do with the songs I write. I went to a school where you
had to write AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM at the top of your page every day.
So everything you do- algrebra, maths - is for the greater glory of
God."
ctd/If you hadn't already guessed, on I To Sky, as Mark willingly admits,
"there is a lot of religious imagery going on." Have no fear
though, the JJ72 frontman has not found God. Rather he is asking the
big questions and using religious imagery as a convenient shorthand
to convey his ideas.
"The whole album is very cohesive. There are old Christian symbols
from different ages for each song. It fits in with the lyrics,"
explains Greaney, who delivers a tour de force vocal performance. "I
wanted to use my voice as loudly and powerfully as I can but also to
whisper and touch people in a very special way. On this album, I want
a lot of things to work in tandem: the artwork, the lyrics and the way
I sing them. Everything fits together a lot better. That's why the vocals
change quite a lot from song to song. They're being sung with the emotion
they deserve."
Producer Flood and mixer Alan Moulder - famed for their work with U2,
Smashing Pumpkins and Depeche Mode - lived up to Greaney's "dream
team" expectations. With their "metallic forest of mikes"
they certainly helped JJ72 realise their sound and vision. "What
makes Flood a great producer is that he listens not only to what you're
playing but also to what you're talking about," enthuses the singer.
"He taps into what's in your head. There’s a lot more to this
group than electric guitars. I didn't want to make music that slaps
you in the face. I want to make music that creeps up on you, behind
you. Music that caresses the soul while respecting it's complexities.
It's not as brash as before. It's a more comforting kind of music but
still powerful and loud. I believe that something incredibly powerful
has been captured on this record. I put a lot into the album, we tried
to capture that perfect moment. If the songs come over as pretentious,
too elaborate to some people, if they think I should chill out, I don't
mind. That's who I am. I might as well go the whole way. We could have
made a very different album if we'd been cynical about it and if we'd
tried to hide behind things like “cool”. Honesty is the key.
I hope it sounds honest. It's important that when people listen to it,
they realise I mean every single word."
The year 2001 was a busy one for JJ72. It entailed headlining the NME
tour,playing sold out headline gigs in Japan,and playing shows nearer
to home with the likes of U2, Manic Street Preachers and Muse. Yet somewhere
in this schedule I To Sky emerged as the album title.It seemed a logical
choice when Mark realised he spent so much of his time looking at the
sky and questioning the ideal of a heaven's existence. "All the
songs on the album are about real life but also the notion of escape.
The escape to another place...a serene place...perhaps above. A lot
of people fear the day they'll die. They see life as a straight line
and then a brick wall that you hit when you die. I wanted to get across
the cyclical idea of life." Greaney can hardly wait to step back
on stage. "I hope to play gigs where every single person in the
audience feels the music has been written for
them. I want people to be completely drawn into Sinking (the killer
seventh track on the album), to feel the way I felt for that moment
when I wrote the song or be lifted out of themselves at the gig. It
all connects with the idea of maybe that's what heaven is. And if it
is then I'm one lucky boy because I'm managing to achieve it by just
playing songs."
JJ72 intend to infiltrate and subvert the mainstream with I To Sky,
something they flirted with on JJ72 "I see us as a pop band really,”
says Greaney, “even though the way I talk about our music may sound
like I have aspirations above my station. But I hope people can set
that aside when they hear us on the radio and at the very least say
that's a very good tune.” Methinks, they’ll think a great
deal more than that.
The Sky’s The
Limit
Phill
Savidge 0208 348 0373
email
phill
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