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When we connected with Jim Healey last week to discuss his new solo EP, today’s Just A Minute More, he was caught up in the usual pitfalls and detours common in a life in rock and roll. “Sorry for the delay,” the always affable Healey tells us. “I’ve been running around trying to get one of my amps fixed.”
The errand comes as no surprise to those who know Healey, who’s done time in the Boston music scene over the last lifetime or so with bruising bands like We’re All Gonna Die, Black Thai, Shatner, and most recently, Set Fire. Knowing Healey’s resume, it’s any wonder he has time to run off to get his amps fixed, as necessary as the chore may be, let alone find the time to write and record a solo effort of all new material, songs that provide a bit of a breather (for the listener) and unlock a few new avenues of Healey’s own style and approach.
“I sat down to write for a new release last November, and wrote nine tunes,” Healey says. “Five of those made it onto this EP. I enlisted the help of my good friends and frequent contributors to give the tunes the ‘band’ treatment.”
The singer-songwriter approach here is not dissimilar his is previous solo work, like 2015’s This Is What The End Looked Like and 2010’s Dreams of Odessa, though this latest effort creeps back closer to Healey’s rock roots. Standout track and lead single “Faced” cruises along a psychedelic rock trip (we hear a bit of Monster Magnet in it, a suggestion that got a refuting shrug from Healey); “You And I” gives off some classic rock vibes; and the grungy, weathered “Swamp Thing” could be sold as a lost alt-’90s rarity from the Northwestern rock vault.
Players on the new EP include Mill Pond Falls’ Joe McMahon (bass, keys, backing vox), This Bliss’ Glenn Smith (guitars), Phantom Glue’s Kyle Rasmussen (drums, keys), and his Set Fire bandmate Jess Collins (backing vox), and the chemistry is readily apparent. Just A Minute More was recorded at New Alliance by Jon Taft, and you can strike it up below.
