Many of Jeremy’s songs begin while he waits for his partner to finish getting ready. She claims this album wouldn’t exist if she got ready faster. Out on October 25th, Scenes from a Well Worn Path (Side Three) is the third instalment of a 24-track, four-part double album that works as his musical autobiography. The Banbury songwriter says Side Three looks outward, setting out problems rather than announcing opinions.
This album has a hybrid approach to using AI, where the artist used it where he felt it was needed, and because of that it definitely feels a lot more human and well thought out than a creation made purely by AI. Jeremy’s AI vocal model was trained on his own voice samples, and AI was also used for drums and lead guitar within Ableton. The songwriting, acoustic guitar, fretless bass and arrangements are his own. Going in, I had low expectations, as someone who doesn’t willingly consume AI music, so the opener “No Price on Earth” was a welcome surprise. I was struck by the level of artistry in the human-made parts, and the AI parts were decent enough set dressing that they didn’t bother me. Using AI as a prosthetic, much like Jeremy describes it, is a good use case for it. The vision and a great deal of the execution are human, and the AI simply supplements some parts.
I particularly enjoyed the more energetic tracks, where the dynamics suited my tastes better, and my favourite is “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren.” Its title comes from Keynes’s 1930 essay, and it opens with a line borrowed from the witches in Macbeth. The rhythm is incredibly tight and fun to listen to, because of the human fretless bass performance and the way it locks into the groove. Harmonically, it’s good but didn’t surprise me as much as “How Much Is Enough,” which has some very interesting chord changes. Elsewhere, “I Don’t Know” builds a love song as a failed mathematical proof, and the tracks all run between three and three and a half minutes.
Jeremy says his real influences are the people he has loved and observed, with Lennon, Dylan, Randy Newman and Bowie in the background. With one side still to come, the autobiography is nearly told, and this chapter makes a strong case for hearing how it ends.
