A Shadow of My Future Self, debut album by Ross Jennings, from 2021.
The frontman of the progressive metal bands Haken and Novena has embarked on a musical adventure, leaving behind the complex sounds of progressive metal.
This project is an explosion of radio-friendly pop rock, ’80s and ’90s arena rock, and there’s even a touch of country.
Some biographical notes
Ross William Jennings, British singer-songwriter, is known worldwide as the frontman and one of the founders of Haken, a key band in modern progressive metal.
Ross taught himself to play guitar, also developing a passion for cinema and freelance photography. He started out as a rhythm guitarist in school and local bands, singing as a hobby.
In 2007, Ross reunited with some school friends to form Haken, becoming their lead singer and main lyricist. With Haken he released now-iconic albums and in 2015 he joined Novena, a progressive metal/art rock collective, as co-vocalist, releasing the album “Eleventh Hour” in 2020.
In 2021, during the touring break caused by the pandemic, Ross made his solo debut with the album “A Shadow of My Future Self”, which showed his more pop-rock side, far from metal and in 2022, he formed the acoustic supergroup D’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings with Nick D’Virgilio and Neal Morse, releasing the albums “Troika” (2022) and “Sophomore” (2023).
The album
With the cancellation of world tours due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Jennings used the free time to work on a solo project. Shut away in his studio, he began writing songs, mainly playing guitar and putting together about 25 demos.
The album was born as a true “love letter” to his record collection. Jennings blended influences from bands like Styx, Journey, Coldplay, U2, R.E.M. and Porcupine Tree.
The album title plays on the English expression “a shadow of my former self”, which usually indicates a decline. Jennings, however, flipped it toward the future, to symbolize his personal growth, healing and optimism. The songs don’t tell a single story (it’s not a concept album), but are linked by deeply introspective and autobiographical themes. The lyrics deal with mental health, relationships, managing the artistic ego, breakups and aging.
Due to restrictions, Jennings couldn’t record with the other musicians, so he handled and self-produced the album remotely. He played almost all the guitars and enlisted the collaboration of international musicians:
Nathan Navarro, world-renowned bassist, a session player who has played live with Porcupine Tree and in the solo band of Devin Townsend among others.
Simen Sandnes, drummer, is a leading name in the Norwegian avant-garde/blackjazz scene.
Vikram Shankar, versatile American musician, is the official keyboardist of Within Temptation, of Pain of Salvation (originally joining the Swedish band as a live touring member to replace official keyboardist Daniel Karlsson), of Redemption, and collaborates with many other projects.
Jørgen Lund Karlsen, Norwegian musician and arranger, is active mainly in the Scandinavian jazz and rock scene.
The album includes a rather unusual bonus track: a rock reinterpretation of the pop song "Be the One" by Dua Lipa.
This record intentionally moves away from progressive metal to embrace melodic, accessible pop rock, with clear influences from ’80s and ’90s pop music.
The songs set aside odd time signatures and instrumental suites to focus on the classic verse-chorus structure, with big, catchy choruses.
It’s not a superficial album, though: it manages to blend accessible genres like pop, rock and country without ever slipping into commercial banality, keeping an attention to detail and a structural complexity that comes from Ross’s progressive background.
With 13 tracks for about 75 minutes of music, the album doesn’t stick to modern pop-record conventions and includes structured, epic songs like Phoenix (which lasts a full 11 minutes) strongly inspired by Pink Floyd’s spacey atmospheres.
When great musicians decide to take on pop, they do it, as in this case, in grand style.
My Copy
Label: Blacklake Records – BL411362
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Netherlands
Released: 10 Jan 2022
Tracklist
A1 Better Times 4:09
A2 Words We Can’t Unsay 5:04
A3 Violet 5:30
A4 The Apologist 4:56
B1 Rocket Science 4:15
B2 Catcher In The Rye 5:19
B3 Since That Day 3:25
B4 Young At Heart 8:14
C1 Feelings 4:57
C2 Third Degree 4:35
C3 Phoenix 11:51
D1 Grounded 8:03
D2 Year 4:56
D3 Be The One 3:26
Lineup
Ross Jennings: vocals, guitar
Nathan Navarro: bass
Simen Sandnes: drums
Vikram Shankar: keyboards
Jørgen Lund Karlsen: saxophone
Note: All links to the musicians’ works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the “Artists” page
