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Joe Jackson<\/a>\u00a0has spent nearly half a century not staying in one place too long. Through highlights (1979’s new-wave-meets-bar-band debut, Look Sharp!<\/a><\/em>) and lowlights (the 1997 classical concept LP Heaven & Hell<\/em>), the British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has crossed genres as frequently and effortlessly as the contemporary he’s most often compared to, Elvis Costello<\/a>.<\/p>\n His previous record\u00a0\u2014 2023’s Mr. Joe Jackson Presents: Max Champion in ‘What a Racket!’<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 was an all-original set of songs inspired by the\u00a0waning days of British music hall, complete with boisterous horns, musicians banging on pots and pans, and numbers featuring plenty of double entrendes. At this point, there are only a few genres Jackson hasn’t yet graced.<\/p>\n For his 22nd album, Hope and Fury<\/em>, Jackson throws several genres against the wall to see what sticks. Not everything does, but Jackson\u00a0charts a mostly uncomplicated path for the first time since before COVID\u00a0halted most of the planet,\u00a0marking his return to the type of smartly written and exquisitely performed music that made\u00a0his reputation decades ago.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 2026 Album Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n Without musical disguises\u00a0clouding the lines between sincerity and irony, songs such as\u00a0“I’m Not Sorry” and “Fabulous People” are\u00a0Jackson’s most fuss-free in years. Springboarding from Night and<\/a> Day<\/a><\/em>‘s big-city sophistication\u00a0<\/a><\/em>and the Afro-Cuban jazz of follow-up\u00a0Body and Soul<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0several of\u00a0Hope and Fury<\/em>‘s nine tracks showcase what the New York City and Portsmouth dual resident describes as “Bicoastal LatinJazzFunkRock.”<\/p>\n It’s not all\u00a0readily classifiable, though.\u00a0Opening song and lead single, “Welcome to Burning-by-Sea,” serves as a\u00a0curious introduction, driven by percussive rhythmic\u00a0thrust as Jackson chant-sings a presumed tribute to the fictional city: “It’s a tramp of a town, and it gets in your blood \/ Like Red Bull, champagne, lager and coke<\/em>.”\u00a0<\/span>And the\u00a0long, storytelling semi-jazz of “End of the Pier”\u00a0forces the\u00a0sometimes\u00a0overly\u00a0ambitious (and occasionally empty) characteristics of Jackson’s music to the fore. While\u00a0Hope and Fury <\/em>doesn’t fully disregard\u00a0Jackson’s restless musical pursuits, it’s nice to\u00a0see him on familiar ground from time to time.<\/p>\n It’s not only one of the decade’s peak years, it also saw the release of some of the biggest and best records ever made.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFrom Joe Jackson and Van Halen to Bruce Springsteen and Prince: The Top 50 Albums of 1984<\/h2>\n