Anthems 2 Love (EP) by Jupiter in Velvet  

Rock music has come a really long way in the last half-century. As the genre has diversified and grown with the times, artists like Jupiter in Velvet have emerged with a new strain of rock that plays by the rules even less than its stylistic forerunners did. Anthems 2 Love, Jupiter in Velvet’s latest EP out everywhere this December, is a great example of the new-era experimentalism that has been taking the underground by storm in the 2010s, and if the engine behind its success gets even an ounce more fuel in the next year, I can see it crossing over into the mainstream come 2021 for sure. To be clear; it isn’t that Anthems 2 Love is a Sgt. Pepper moment for JiV, but rather a cumulative exercise in unbound songwriting, and most of all, unrestrained melodicism.

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In “A Cooler Shade of Mad” and “If Not Peace… (Then it’s War),” Jupiter in Velvet puts a conservative spin on a gluttonous set of guitars, and the resulting tonality isn’t as conflicted as you’d think it would be. Virtuosic solos aren’t a component of Anthems 2 Love; in their place, we find a lot of harmonic elements that tie together some of the stranger, more eccentric ends as to prevent songs like “Forever & a Day” from sounding too avant-garde for mainstream ears to get interested. Over the top theatrics are left on the sidelines for this record, and with any luck, that’s where they’ll stay in future Jupiter in Velvet releases as well.

It’s been said that this artist has a distinct vocal, but I’m not sure I’ve heard it presented with the degree of sincerity that it is in “We Are All One,” which is the strongest song here in my opinion. It’s lyrically as engaging as “Stand Up” or “If Not Peace… (Then it’s War)” are, but in the tone that Jupiter in Velvet sings it to us, it sounds all the more profound. It doesn’t minimize the impact of preceding passion numbers like “The Greatest Gift” and “Forever & a Day,” but I will say that it is absolutely the perfectly-chosen song to close out this extended play on a poetic, reassuringly warm note.

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Fans of Jupiter in Velvet both old and new alike really can’t go wrong with what the seasoned songwriter and guitar-slinger is doing in this latest release, which some critics will probably regard as being one of his most powerful and unguarded. Rock n’ roll might be changing in more ways than most of us are able to keep up with, but as long as there are artists like this one who press the boundaries on a regular basis with their work, there should be no doubting the future of electrified beats and amped-up guitars. Jupiter in Velvet is doing his part to see that legacy go on into the next decade, and if this EP gets as much traction as his last record did, it could segue his career into a higher level of respect that it wasn’t quite able to reach in the 2010s.

Samuel Pratt