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Five years ago, My Morning Jacket released their most recent album, The Waterfall. At the time, the word was that the alternative rockers had actually recorded enough songs for two full-length albums, but the second collection of tracks never materialized — until now. 
The Waterfall and The Waterfall II were recorded during inspiring sessions at what became affectionately known as Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, California. While My Morning Jacket considered putting out all of the music as a triple album, they instead decided to split the two dozen tracks into distinct projects. It was during a walk in the early days of the pandemic lockdown that frontman Jim James rediscovered one of the unreleased songs, “Spinning My Wheels”. Struck by how the lyrics’ feeling of being “hypnotized from doing the same old thing” was so relevant to our current situation, he revisited the rest of the Waterfall II material.
As a press release puts it, the new album “conjures an indelible pain but never drifts into despair,” instead focusing on the hope that can be found beyond loss. “As so many of us feel out of tune and long for the world to be a better place, we have to look to nature and the animals and learn from them: learn to love, accept, move on, and respect each other,” James said in a statement. “We gotta work for it and change our ways before it’s too late, and get in harmony with love and equality for all of humanity and for nature too.”

Some of the songs on The Waterfall II may already be familiar to fans. Closer “The First Time” appeared on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s Showtime series Roadies, while the anti-gun violence message of “Magic Bullet” was shared in 2016. There’s also “Welcome Home”, which has been performed live a handful of times and was part of a 2011 iTunes Sessions EP. Even if not all the material is “new,” the beloved Kentucky rockers have only played seven shows since 2017, so anything fresh from the band is welcome.