Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World recorded the 10-track set mostly in their home studio, working again with co-producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, their partner on 2016’s INTEGRITY BLUES.

The result is punchy, dynamically explosive & hearkens back to the heavy yet crafted melodic edge that woke the world up to Jimmy Eat World a quarter century ago.

There’s plenty of guitar rock on SURVIVING, from the blast off of the title track through the ferocity of “Criminal Energy,” “All the Way (Stay)” and “Love Never” and the gritty, propulsive grind of “Diamond.” Vibey tracks such as “Delivery,” “Recommit” and the lushly majestic “555” expand the album’s sonic scope, meanwhile, “One Mil” alternates between pretty acoustic verses and anthemic, stadium-caliber choruses. The set-closing “Congratulations” simmers with an edgy sense of purpose as the group declares “You’re on your own.”

Noting that “I was a passenger in my own body for 36 years and never realized it,” Adkins fills SURIVING’s songs with lessons of clarity and insights into the soul and psyche. These are the songs of someone who’s had an awakening; accepting the person he was and finding both solace and joy in the continuing process of who he’s becoming.

He’s living.

“I think we’re at the stage in what I would call a career, and it’s important that you have a grasp of why you’re doing it. With this being our 10th album, there better be a reason you’re continuing — so what is that?”

Much of what Adkins is trying to convey on SURVIVING is a taking of control after becoming sober. No longer is he the prisoner of what he calls “the default operating system” he employed over the years — “I’m just not faithful, that’s who I am” or “I’m just awkward in relationships” or “I just drink like that. I guess that’s me.”

“Criminal Energy,” for instance, comes from an expression for moral sickness that Adkins heard in Germany. “Delivery” and “555” are about becoming self-aware.

“Love Never” celebrates a realization that “love isn’t an abstract dream that one day falls out of the sky, fully formed.  It’s a choice. It’s a verb.”