Impossibilities in life inform the work heard on A Jackal’s Wedding. We don’t think the sun can shine through a storm and it’s almost impossible to imagine a canid walking down the aisle. But those are just playful notes of imagination, the fictionalised which comes to life in the mind of those without aphantasia. It’s what Westerman offers here. A Jackal’s Wedding is an embrace of the weird and the wild, not because surrealism is interesting, but because it’s an inevitability if you travel enough. Seek out reason in everything and you’ll not have time to live. Those wedding bells soon turn into whirs, space-age noises backed by brass. That sudden segue from S. Machine into About Leaving is a chance to hear what Westerman wants us to take from A Jackal’s Wedding. We seem to think we have all the time in the world but the more we travel, the further we push our experiences, the more we find there is simply not enough time to cover all that we want. It’s a fear that will push the best of us into exploration.
Those who were moved by the excellent preceding album, An Inbuilt Fault, will know the direction A Jackal’s Wedding is headed. That much is not the point of the album as much as the journey. Travelling through Europe has opened Westerman up not just to experiences and insights which shift far beyond their hometown but a strong desire to share it with a listener. They piece this together well on Adriatic, world music reflected on in the tone and style of each song. As much an album as a travel documentary. What do we learn on the road with Westerman? That there is far more out there than we could ever hope to understand or engage with. We must then be satisfied with the works we are experiencing. You are what you watch, what you listen to, and A Jackal’s Wedding is a solid place to start when you don’t know where to head.
Travel becomes the common theme for A Jackal’s Wedding, though the bursts of instrumental lightness. Spirited all the same but there is a floating, exploratory style to songs like PSFN. Flourishing piano notes and those moments of contemplation in sparse but still exceptional form is a constant for A Jackal’s Wedding. That’s not to say life on the road is a fully positive experience. There are the darker spots, the songs which call on a listener to overcome the inevitable difficulties. Nevermind is a stress test for a listener. Just how far is a person willing to go in exploring the world around them. There are moments of interest to A Jackal’s Wedding. Nothing stands out as a stunning moment to beat all other songs, but that would defeat the purpose of the album. Everything flows well here.
Westerman has experimentation on the mind here. From the instrumental blur on Weak Hands to the drifting tone which calls on those old songs of rambling, travelling quality, the intention is clear. A Jackal’s Wedding is out of step with what we know and how we live. That’s an extraordinary experience for those dissatisfied with themselves. Album closer You Are Indelibly Where I Sleep is a bold closing moment. A chance for reflection, those few moments of silence in the final seconds is what Westerman hopes a listener will use to inspire themselves into travelling down a new path. A Jackal’s Wedding has a tremendous collection of hopes in its heart and displays them well, simply so, and clear enough. It’s an album of influence though its songs never quite grasp at the possibilities of life on the road.
