With Day 200 getting uncomfortably close, White Week will keep on truckin’. Today, I gave the Jack White drummed, produced, and released The Ghost Who Walks a listen. Sure, the album technically belongs to his now ex-wife, but there’s a ton of Jack all over it.
Karen Elson tried to escape the shadow cast by her former husband on this record, she really did—I give her props for that. Unfortunately for Ms. Elson, when it comes to music, Jack White’s shadow is ever-expanding in every direction. When he’s going to drum on, produce, and above all, be married to the actual artist on a record, it’s impossible to look at it as just another TMR release.
I’ve got to admit, though, this is a pretty cool album. When singing, Elson loses her British accent completely, which leaves her sounding almost like a country singer. They took advantage of that, as fiddles and country guitar can be heard all over this record. It’s not country to the point of Loretta Lynn’s also Jack-produced Van Lear Rose, but it gets close. Cruel Summer, for example, would only be out of place on country radio because country radio is absolutely terrible.
This record proves that Karen Elson’s got talent. She can write decent lyrics, and I think it’s her on guitar as well for the most part. Now that she’s divorced, I’d love to see her put out an album that’s not on Jack White’s label. I doubt that she’d be able to completely escape skepticism caused by that marriage, but it’d help her image just a bit if White’s good-but-unnecessary drum fills weren’t happening every other second.
Swole Ear 
Cute video. Decent song. But for me, the only Cruel Summer will always be Bananarama. Check it out on the Youtubes.
J$, you are right about the Bananrama and whatever the reasons may have been for Karen and Jack;s trip to Splitsville it was neither because he was spending too much time giving her guitar lessons nor because she was spending too much time at the tanning salon. So what possiblities are left?