Entering Heaven Alive (2022)/ White, Jack

Singer-songwriter records are typically framed as emotionally raw and honest works, yet White is perhaps one of the most inscrutable and reclusive personalities in music today. He is also a sharp songwriter when he wants to be, and Entering Heaven Alive puts his talents to good use. White can at least convincingly portray vulnerability throughout the album; his speakers are lost people who are trying desperately to find love or, at the very least, some substantial human connection. There are expressions of sincere, heart-on-sleeve affection and regrets about the mistakes of the past, all of which are expressed in fairly straightforward ways. This would be unremarkable under normal circumstances, but White has spent the past few years making the weirdest and most alienating music that he can possibly make. Even if the singer-songwriter is just another costume for White to put on, Entering Heaven Alive shows that it suits him quite well. (Kevin Korber, Spectrum Culture, 2022)|