The quirky, idiosyncratic Jer/ Jer’s “Back To The Sun” is a warping of songbook and an internal reading of the esoterica. The performance of Jer/ Jer on “Back To The Sun” is reminiscent of the ghost of Daniel Johnston, the likes of Jad Fair and it is as though Jer/ Jer were a silent partner in the outsider musician movement.
There’s a weird, eerie catacomb in the heart of each song, a spiraling stairwell leading to an abyss that few have the will to follow. One finds themselves questioning truths and thinking whether trespass into a realm of darknesses is a decision of wisdom.
We all designate ourselves curators of our lives and what we take in becomes our consciousness. What does Jer/ Jer speak of the void or collective consciousness? Some have retreated and some still rush to hear with a fever the collected sounds of “Back To The Sun.”
The strange journey is also a sojourn into the many states of Dante’s divine comedy- Jer/ Jer is definitely a cerebral experience and if one puts aside the somber almost Dostoevsky-ian despair then there’s an amusing anecdote of losing one’s mind and finally regaining it perhaps after much seclusion. The restive yet pensive mind bewails in Jer/ Jer at times with momentary ease that sounds dire.
Just as some artists may have upbeat music with truly sad lyrics, Jer/ Jer on the opposite spectrum has upbeat lyrics so to speak and abysmally dark music. Wondering how to proceed with the construct of an album so wild and fiery. Yet, it’s pathos and darkness is like a deep bottomless vertigo that swallows that listener and we are completely sure Jer/ Jer himself. Entrenched in the night and wandering an unknown, one only has to hear the cry of birds that refuse to sleep. They are also the musicians of a hallowed season where in “Back To The Sun” we see Jer/ Jer at the fringe of something nocturnal and achingly human.
Written by Hari Palacio
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