High Ball Stepper

Since the disbandment of the The White Stripes in 2011, guitarist Jack White has begun to focus  primarily on his solo work, with the success of his debut album, Blunderbuss, proving to be a hit.  But surely enough, on April Fools Day,  it was no joke that he had something waiting for his fans. White released a new single, “High Ball Stepper” off his new album, Lazaretto, which will be released on Jun. 10, 2014. “Stepper” is a mostly instrumental song that highlights the crazy guitar skills White is so well-known for. The song begins with cries of eighth note values, while drums are playing in the back to keep the tempo. Every time the cries stop, White plays a repeated guitar solo. This part of the song lasts for about 30 seconds, then transitions into a piano playing a rapid, but repeated melody, each note played ascending in tone. Once the piano part ends, White blasts into his mad guitar solo; fans will recognize his style even without knowing it’s White performing. He delves into the sound that is muffled, but also dependent on an analog, a synthesizer that helps create a rich, coarse tone. White continues his solo throughout the rest of the song, with the cries making an appearance once again. The song then dies down to a piano dynamic, eventually making a crescendo to repeat the solo and the cries.

Michael Nelson of Stereogum is excited to have White back releasing new music. “Is the instrumental jam ‘High Ball Stepper’ really the first song to be released from Jack White’s new LP, Lazaretto?,” he said. “I’ve got faith that it is, even if an instrumental is a weird way to lead things off. Hey, Jack White is a pretty weird guy! Either way, that’s definitely White shredding.” Although White is still playing music in a comfortable territory, the harsh tones he exudes from his guitar are his signature; it’s still the same White, but it’s an older White playing the grunge melodies for his loyal audience.  The song has addictive tones to it that make the listener tuned into the song. Certainly, the song may seem, to some fans, that nothing has changed with White’s musicality. But what White has done for “Stepper” is infuse his guitar skills with bleak, sporadic tones that only make his sound richer. White is currently on tour, with Houston as his next stop, performing at the Free Press Summer Festival in late May.