Jack White”s songs often sounds like they could come unhinged at any moment and “Lazaretto,” the title track to his new album, out June 10, is no exception.
“Lazaretto” opens with a funky stomp, as White sings that “every single bone in my brain is electric.” That”s a medical impossibility, but we get what he”s going for. As usual, there”s some woman that”s causing him trouble. “When I say nothing, I say everything,” he sings as he laments being quarantined on “The Isle of Man,” or maybe in this case, it should be lower case man, as he sings about the war between the sexes (or so we think; some of the words are indecipherable).
The song then goes into a fuzzy, lacerating guitar solo as a bridge into the second part, a Who-like, high-energy blast about closing the doors of the prison. That part only lasts for about 30 seconds, before the last portion is a fiddle-based, high-octane fizzy rock instrumental.
In other words, it”s all over the place and, yet, somehow hangs together with duct tape, White”s distinctive vocal, and guitar shredding. “Lazaretto” is more frenetic and less blues-based than “High Ball Stepper,” an instrumental track from “Lazaretto” released earlier this month.
By the way, the official definition of lazaretto is a quarantine station for travelers by sea.
As we previously reported, White recorded a live, mono version of “Lazaretto” and manufactured and distributed it Saturday (April 19) as part of Record Store Day in an effort to set the record for World”s Fastest Released Record. We”re not sure exactly who held the old record.
The single, “Lazaretto,” will be available via iTunes April 22.
Track listing for “Lazaretto”
1. Three Women
2. Lazaretto
3. Temporary Ground
4. Would You Fight For My Love?
5. High Ball Stepper
6. Just One Drink
7. Alone In My Home
8. Entitlement
9. That Black Bat Licorice
10. I Think I Found The Culprit
11. Want And Able