If you don’t want an experience with love to, say, slam your fingers in a doorway, then Jack White‘s new single probably isn’t for you. But don’t turn away from the vulgarity so fast: it’s only a simple analogy (we think).
In his first single as a solo artist, Jack White stands incredibly upfront about his intentions in sending a message to audiences: he wants to be loved tirelessly, relentlessly and endlessly regardless of any consequence. “Love Interruption” explains not just the desire to fall in love but the need for it, a raw emotion many can relate with easily.
Listeners might not be able to comprehend the extent Jack White goes – as far as murdering one’s own mother is on the subject matter – but nevertheless, providing examples such as these helps describe how deeply White’s character is driven to find love with a woman. He sings:
I want love
to roll me over slowly
stick a knife inside me
and twist it all around
White’s strained rock vocals are complemented by his duet partner’s smoky pipes. The song was even paired with a video with very little concept to emphasize the visual gold that lies in within the lyrics of “Love Interruption.” The soulful Ruby Amanfu (who is also an alum from NBC’s “The Sing Off”), dressed in 60s-style lashes and sequins, leans into the microphone for the chorus of the song for an effect that adds the ultimate scenery to top off such tangible work with words. Though simple, the way it fades in and out of light and blurs the canvas adds impact to an already-intense picture plane.
The game changes in the choruses of “Love Interruption”, too, where the lyrics reveal a history of heartbreak in the writer’s past. As the title of the song comes into play, the message is sent home when the song’s character remind themselves to stay defiant in finding the right kind of love:
I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me,
No I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me anymore
The song’s most intimate moment happens here in the chorus where White explains what ails him and drives him to crave such a heavy love. It seems that he’s acquired it, basked in it and been broken down by it. Love lost was his damnation but also his motivation. Nothing stands in the way of his words. No metaphors and no bells nor whistles. It truly doesn’t get more real than this.
One can assume that Jack White’s former wife and musical partner a la White Stripes‘ Meg White had something to do with the turmoil of his past. The breakup may have slowed Meg’s career, but Jack’s has seemingly never been stronger. Some of his mentionable solo work would include performing songs for the James Bond “Quantum of Solace” soundtrack as well as the “Cold Mountain” soundtrack, being featured on Danger Mouse‘s conceptual hit Rome last year and a recent indie video going viral of him playing a surprise parking lot set during 2011’s SXSW festival.
What’s funny about “Love Interruption” is the way it glides along like a traditional song amidst such rebellious conformities in contemporary trends. Though it only clocks in about two and a half minutes, it features the full choruses and verses meanwhile entertaining a classic-rock feel. In Jack White’s crooning masterpiece, love is used as a weapon just as rock & roll patriots did a few decades ago. An electric piano trails through the song with only an acoustic guitar by its side, providing the only two instruments necessary in order to tell the story. A bass and clarinet fill out whatever space is left in the eardrum. The video will have you feeling full and finished. The whole idea is exhaustingly beautiful.
White gives us only a taste of what his upcoming Blunderbuss will feature. From the sounds of it, there’ll be an interesting mix of reminiscent punk, blues and the expected alternative rock we’ve come to know from him. If it’s anything like what he served us with “Love Interruption”, a lot of good stuff is in store.
