SEEING THINGS is
Jakob Dylan's debut solo album and after five albums as the leader of the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning band the
WALLFLOWERS, Dylan now reveals a striking and powerful new approach to his work. The album was produced by Rick Rubin at his home studio in the Hollywood Hills throughout 2007 and Dylan's raw and dynamic performance on this primarily acoustic album reflects the continuation of Rubin's spare and compelling production work.
"Once I realized that this album was basically going to just be guitar and voice", says Dylan, "I had to work a bit differently because theres nothing but the song to grab your attention." On SEEING THINGS the songs most certainly do make a listener sit up and take notice. They are spare, unblinking visions, stripped to the bone, full of dread and darkness one minute and spirited optimism the next.
Inspiration for Dylan's debut came when he went on a tour opening for T-Bone Burnett, an old friend who also produced the Wallflowers' 1996 breakthrough album Bringing Down The Horse. Dylan had only his WALLFLOWERS' material from which to draw, but playing those compositions alone on an acoustic guitar lead to him writing more songs that he could play with a stripped down setting.
The new chapter begun with "Valley of the Low Sun", a haunting, gently ominous dreamscape. The rest of the album was written over the next few months, at which point Dylan played them for Rubin, who had recently become the head of Dylan's new label, Columbia Records. Rubin, who has produced legends from Johnnt Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from the Dixie Chicks to Jay-Z, became Dylan's guide to unlocking the songs on SEEING THINGS.
More than anything, songs like "All Day and All Night" hearken back to the timeless language of American roots music. Although Dylan has often spoken of more modern bands like the Clash as his greatest inspiration, he asserts that with these songs, he was aspiring to the majesty and the mystery of the country blues masters. But there's nothing one-dimensional about SEEING THINGS; it is also marked by the joy found in such songs as "Something Good This Way Comes" and offers and exceptional listening experience for fans of quality music.