Tag Archives: adrian jones

Real Gone – A Decade of Deep Cuts

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In November 2019, Real Gone reached its ten year anniversary of being online. To celebrate, we shared thoughts on ten albums we loved from that decade. That list came with two strict rules beyond becoming favourites: each year had to be represented by one album and each album had to in some way have helped our site to become more established.

As we reach the end of the year, it’s time to look back more broadly on some of our favourite albums of the ’10s; albums that have kept us listening for pleasure long after the reviews and coverage have been completed. If you’re a regular visitor to Real Gone, lots of these names will be familiar by now, but we hope this time for looking back helps to reconnect with a couple of old favourites, or find you a new one somewhere along the way. [Full reviews & streams can be found by clicking on the individual titles.]

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JET BLACK SEA – The Overview Effect

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The work of producer/multi-instrumentalist Michel Simons and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Jones, Jet Black Sea was originally conceived as a side project to Jones’s prog rock band Nine Stones Close. A vehicle for experimentation, their debut release ‘The Path of Least Existence’ mixed elements of prog rock, ambient music, electronica and post rock with fantastic results. A follow-up ‘Absorption Lines’ was almost five years in the making. Absorbing more mellow prog rock sounds than before – presumably since Nine Stones Close had, by that time, veered towards a more prog metal sound on their 2016 LP ‘Leaves’ – the album was well received among online prog fans.

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JET BLACK SEA – Absorption Lines

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When a musician is both prolific and open to lots of influences, they’ll end up with lots of musical ideas that don’t quite fit their regular outlet. Such is the case for multi-instrumentalist Adrian Jones. Whilst working on the Nine Stones Close album ‘One Eye On The Sunrise’, he and studio engineer/multi-instrumentalist Michel Simons recorded various pieces of music of a more laid-back and ambient nature. Rather more rooted within electronica and the darker worlds of Massive Attack than rock, the musical ideas were eventually released as an album, ‘The Path of Least Existence‘ credited to Jet Black Sea in 2013. With Jones returning to Nine Stones Close almost immediately afterwards and their ‘Leaves‘ album featuring some very dark and anguished material, it seemed like Jet Black Sea was merely a temporary outlet. A brilliant outlet, but not necessarily an ongoing fixture in the 9SC family tree. However, three years after their first Sea voyage, Jones and Simons re-entered the studio.

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Get ready for another voyage across the Jet Black Sea…

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In 2013, Jet Black Sea released their debut album ‘The Path of Least Existence’.  The project was essentially an outlet for Nine Stones Close guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Adrian Jones and studio engineer Michel Simons to release interesting musical ideas that didn’t quite fit the usual mould.  The end result often came across like a mix of a Pink Floyd ambient jam and the mellower end of Massive Attack’s downtempo trip-hop.

The album attracted a genuine cult following.  Those who heard it loved it.   Those who loved it wanted more.

Adrian went back to work with Nine Stones Close, but there were many rumours of a second Jet Black Sea being under construction.   Finally, Adrian brings some news and concrete evidence that the musical cogs have, indeed, been turning…and more creatively than anyone expected.

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NINE STONES CLOSE – Leaves

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9SC LeavesOver the course of a couple of years, the fourth album from Anglo-Dutch band Nine Stones Close – 2012’s ‘One Eye On The Sunrise’ – built up a cult following. Its combination of extended musical workouts and thoughtful song writing really spoke to sections the prog rock audience. Aside from a rather flat drum sound it had a lot going for it, presenting music that culled lots of influence from the past, but still felt contemporary. Fans eagerly awaited a follow-up, but it was clear they’d have to wait some time. Band leader/guitarist Adrian Jones had embarked upon extra curricular work with Michel Simons (9SC’s engineer) creating more sonically spacious music, the results of which can be heard on the excellent Jet Black Sea debut. Keyboard player Brendan Eyre, too, had moved on, eventually releasing ‘Northlands’, a mellow collection of tunes with Tony Patterson. Perhaps the biggest instigator in delaying the follow-up, though, was the departure of vocalist Mark Atkinson.

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