Jim James has teamed with composer Teddy Abrams & the Louisville Orchestra for The Order of Nature, an album of new songs by the My Morning Jacket frontman as well as reimagined versions of tracks from his solo catalog. James also shared first single “Set It to Song” from The Order of Nature, which examines the singer’s “fascination” with the absence of hate in nature.
“The core idea to me is trying to reflect on the fact that nature doesn’t know how to hate,” James said in a statement. “Humans are part of nature obviously, but why do we have this thing called hatred and how do we get rid of it? We’re fighting nature and thinking we can prevail over nature, but we’re killing each other and killing the planet.”
The nine-song The Order of Nature arrives October 18th via Decca Gold; the LP is available to preorder now. The album was recorded in one take with no overdubs during a performance of the piece at the Louisville Orchestra’s annual Festival of American Music on April 7th, 2018.
James, Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra also announced a three-part documentary about the collaboration, the first chapter of which arrived Friday:
“We’re really looking at addressing things head on,” Abrams said in a statement. “That was an interest of mine in working with Jim because he has a way of taking on challenging and divisive issues and presenting them in ways that everybody can relate to, even if you’re from different political backgrounds.”
James added, “For me it was very inspiring, and it was also inspiring to hear what Teddy wrote and I really enjoyed just giving him this seed of a song and just watching it flower.”
James and Abrams will also perform The Order of Nature during a trio of concerts that will feature local orchestras at each stop: The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on September 4, 2019, Benaroya Hall in Seattle on May 12, 2020, and Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver on May 15, 2020.
The Order of Nature Track List
- Walking In The Snow
- Here In Spirit
- The Human Touch
- In Demand
- Back To The End Of The World
- Who Am I?
- Over And Over
- Set It To Song
- Same Old Lie