Z is the fourth studio album by psychedelic rock band My Morning Jacket. This collection features a much spacier and more polished sound than previous releases, making heavy use of synthesizers throughout and incorporating reggae and dub influences. The heavy reverb that was a defining characteristic of the band's prior recordings is largely absent. The songs on the album are more focused and shorter in length compared to the band's previous albums. A double-live album, Okonokos, was recorded at the end of the Z Tour and was released on September 26, 2006; it features live versions of eight of Z's Read more on Last.fm.
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While this album’s successors may have surpassed this album in front-to-back quality, it’s forever their high-water mark for me, under the auspice of love at first listen. If nothing else, Z most certainly marks a turning point in MMJ’s career; one at which they began to find their sound by experimenting with reckless abandon. While it’s not quite as tight or well-footed as the James Brown-cum-neon Evil Urges, it’s at least bookmarked by such nirvanic, transcendent masterpieces of soul (“Wordless Chorus” and “Dondante,” respectively) that you can’t help but stay drawn in, bursting at the seams.