Based in Seattle, Ian Jones describes his music as “Northwest Americana,” and after listening to his full-length debut Results Not Typical that self-assessment rings out as right on the money. There is palpable country flavor in his approach, but also a substantial classic 1970s singer-songwriter vibe as the 11 songs unfurl. Unusually confident for a debut, reinforcing Jones’ experience, the record is out April 7 on vinyl and compact disc through Thin Silver Records.
Ian Jones has mentioned country music as a formative influence, and it’s immediately clear the style continues to have an impact. In Jones’ favor, he’s not playing the role of some dusty Big Sky cattle rancher or a grizzled honky-tonk lizard. While there’s no shortage of pedal steel in the album’s opening track “Rollin,” the instrumentation is crisp and airy as Jones’ singing is sturdy but unaffected.
“Rollin” stirs thoughts of both Jackson Browne in Jones’ vocal and My Morning Jacket in the instrumental thrust, but in the following cut “You Can’t” the singer-songwriter atmosphere really begins to shine through. The song features some fine playing from the assembled band (more on the participants below), but the focus remains on Jones, with his lyrical sentiments directly expressed but avoiding cliché.
“Lost Highway” features a sophisto shift, moving from standard piano to an electric keyboard plus adding a horn section that radiates a bit of a New Orleans vibe; it all goes down okay, but I prefer Jones in a more scaled-back and raw mode, which is where he’s at in “Someday,” complete with a guitar solo underscoring the similarity to Browne’s early ’70s work.
“Athens Smiles” is halfway between pop country and Steve Goodman, and goes down rather nicely, while “She Is Lost” puts the spotlight on vocals and piano, as strings and drums fill out the sound. Results Not Typical is capably produced by Jesse Siebenberg, who also worked on Jones’ 2021 CDEP “The Evergreens,” and the backing here includes drummer Joey Waronker, bassists Jonathan Flaugher and Gabe Noel, pianists Dave Palmer and Aaron Embry, guitarist Jason Soda, and violinist Paul Cartwright.
Loaded with session pros, Results Not Typical is appealing even when it’s a little too polished, with the positivity enhanced by Jones’ no-nonsense singing. He’s been compared to James Taylor, but I thankfully don’t detect the similarity, as it’s Browne that I hear instead. Not that Jones doesn’t have his own thing going, especially in the tougher punch of side two’s opener “Again.”
“Without You I’m Lost” brings the horns back and once more I’m reminded of a session booked in New Orleans or maybe Muscle Shoals by a singer-songwriter who’s looking to get a little (but not too) rootsy. It’s an okay proposition, but “You’re Gone,” with its David Lindley-esque slide guitar, is preferable, and even better is the record’s deepest dose of country flavor, the effectively old school “Have Mercy.”
Jones leans heavily into the singer-songwriter side of his approach for “Goodbyes Are the Hardest Words,” the cut bringing the well-mannered and polished Results Not Typical to a strong finish. I won’t deny that a little more grit and twang would’ve put this record over the top for me, but Jones has assembled a solid batch of songs and he sings them with confidence as the playing is consistently likeable throughout.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
