Hello reader,
Welcome back. We hope you’ve been enjoying the content here at SWT.
Today, we’re going to delve into Durand Jones & The Indications. They are quickly becoming a supergroup, as the group’s three members —Durand Jones, Aaron Frazer, and Blake Rhein —continue to craft incredible music, both as a trio and also within their solo projects, which are garnering universal critical acclaim. If you’re not listening to them, now’s a good time to start.
A year ago in June, we reviewed Aaron Frazer’s excellent album Into The Blue, discussing the band’s biography within it. The album would’ve made my top albums list of the year had I publicly published one. The previous year, in 2023, Durand Jones’ solo album Wait Til I Get Over ranked near the top of my Best albums of 2023 list. The third member of the group, Blake Rhein, is a multi-instrumentalist and contributing songwriter within the group and also is part of the Chicago-based collective, Patchwork Inc.
Together, the trio has released three excellent albums, starting with the self-titled debut, Durand Jones & The Indications (2016), followed by American Love Call (2019), Private Space (2021), and now their fourth studio album, Flowers, is out Friday, June 27th, via the fabulous Dead Oceans Records for your listening pleasure.
From the album’s press release, Jones stated, “All of these songs touch on such mature topics, things that we never got to sing about before. We are all in our 30s, have all been through ups and downs in our personal lives and professional lives, and flowers are a sign of maturity, growth, spring, productivity.” Frazer noted about making Flowers, “We took the spirit of play that started the project, and added in the wisdom and lessons that we’ve acquired through the years.” And Rhein shared his perspective, “When I think of Flowers, I think of this sense of naturalness. There’s a lot of courage in showing the human side of making music. We spent the most energy playing to each other’s strengths and learning how to support each other. Being able to make art from an intuitive level takes a lot of confidence, not second-guessing yourself, not asking if it’s going to be well received.”
Before creating Flowers, Jones underwent personal transformation, noting, “I had spent the last year and a half laying everything out that I felt insecure about — I felt insecure about my sexuality, growing up poor; about a myriad of things. I laid all of that out on the table, and it made me such a stronger person, to the point that I got back to the Indications, and I was way more sure of myself.”
Looking towards the future, Frazer stated, “We still find so much joy in doing this, that we can still be exploring new avenues. We’re so blessed to have such a wide range of influence and musical minds that have such a good grip on the things that they love, and the ability to synthesize those influences and bring them to a group setting. So we’ll continue to do what we’re doing for many years to come.”
Giving credit where it’s due, Flowers album credits:
- Durand Jones – vocals, producer
- Aaron Frazer – vocals, drums, synth, producer
- Blake Rhein – guitar, bass guitar, synth, background vocals, producer, engineer
- Steve Okonski – piano, Fender Rhodes, organ, producer
- Michael Isvara Montgomery – bass
- Ginger Dolden – violin, string arrangements on “Rust and Steel”, “Without You”, and “If Not For Love”
- Pete Lanctot – viola, string arrangements on “Rust and Steel”, “Without You”, and “If Not For Love”
- Anna Brathwaite – violin
- Domenic Salerni – violin
- Tiger Darrow – cello
- Oliver Hill – violin
- Emily Elkin – cello
- Marta Sofia Honer – viola
- Kate Outterbridge – violin
- Cade Gotthardt – trumpet and flugelhorn
- Alex Young – saxophone
- Tiffany Johns – flugelhorn, French horn, trombone, string, and horn arrangements on “Really Wanna Be With You”
- MAE.SUN – flute and saxophone
- Brian Gazo – percussion, background vocals
- Background Vocals: Crofton Coleman, Michael Damani, Kim Dawson,
Adryon de León, Michael “MKY” Jimenez, Alysha Monique, Ashley Otis, and Wyatt
Waddell. - Valentine Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. Engineer: Travis Pavur
- Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC. Engineer: Julian Dreyer
- Penrose Recorders, Riverside, CA. Engineer: Anthony Masino
- Patchwork HQ, Chicago, IL. Engineer: Blake Rhein
- Mixed by Jon Castelli
- Mastered by Dale Becker
- “Everything” Engineered and Associate Produced by Rafferty Swink
- Front cover painting by Andrea Peterson
- Back cover photo by Elan Watson
- Inner sleeve photos by Kalie Johnston
And now for some hype for your ears and ears via the group’s YouTube channel:
The old filmstock-looking video for the song “Lovers’ Holiday”:
(All credit and rights to Durand Jones & The Indications)
Smooth as silk, dressed to the nines, beneath the “Flower Moon”:
(All credits and rights to Durand Jones & The Indications)
The video that reminds you of Motown groups of years past within the song, “Been So Long”:
(All credits and rights to Durand Jones & The Indications)
The album, Flowers is a mature groove in all the best ways. For many listeners, the melodies will transport them back in time to R&B and soul from decades past. The music on this album is modern soul at some of its smoothest melodies. The compositions in general are fantastic, showcasing the band in its finest form. Kudos to all involved in the compositions and balancing all that is involved. They were perfect. The harmonies, as always with Jones and Frazer, are impeccable. Top fucking notch. As are their solo vocals. To my ears, they are two of the best out there right now, especially within soul or R&B. The choruses from Brian Gazo, Crofton Coleman, Michael Damani, Kim Dawson, Adryon de León, Michael “MKY” Jimenez, Alysha Monique, Ashley Otis, and Wyatt Waddell are beautiful additions as they add so much depth to the mood and sound including but not limited to the full chorus on “If Not For Love.” The horns and strings are both wonderfully arranged and played, as well as percussive instrumentation. Talent stacked on talent on talent throughout this album. Kudos all around, to the engineers and mixers, too. I would say that the band’s songwriting has shown improvement on this album, compared to their past, as they’ve become more comfortable in their skin and craft. If someone tells you there’s “no good music being made today”, kindly direct them to this album. Or our review page in general.
Thus it should come as no surprise that Flowers gets 4.5 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. It’s an outstanding album overall and among this year’s best at mid-year. Add this to your collection on vinyl. And all of their other albums. Time for a dance party in your place. Also, add on the formats of your choice, consumer. But add the vinyl, even if this is the start of your vinyl collection. Even better, go see them live!
Flowers Track listing (song length)
- Flowers (0:24)
- Paradise (5:02)
- Lovers’ Holiday (3:26)
- I Need The Answer (4:04)
- Flower Moon (4:56)
- Really Wanna Be With You (4:32)
- Been So Long (3:16)
- Everything (2:53)
- Rust and Steel (4:56)
- If Not For Love (3:23)
- Without You (3:37)
Total runtime: 40:29
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. The listening process with Flowers will take 40 minutes from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, I found the songs highlighted in green font above to be my favorite songs on this album.
To listen to/get the album, go here, visit their website for tour dates and more!, check out their Linktree, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud.
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
