As lead vocalist and co-songwriter of successful modern progressive metal band HAKEN, Ross Jennings has been involved in some of the biggest releases in the prog-metal world over the past decade. Now, Ross Jennings has written, recorded, and self-produced his debut solo effort titled “A Shadow Of My Future Self”, which is set to be released on November 19th, 2021 via Graphite Records.
Ross has now shared the new video for “Catcher in the Rye,” which you can watch below.
“‘Catcher in the Rye’ is probably my favorite piece on the album for a number of reasons. It came to me as I was making final decisions on which songs to put on the album and which order etc… and as if something tapped me on the shoulder as if to say “you’re album isn’t done” another song just came to me. It’s an all too familiar tale of the songs that take 15 minutes to write… this was one of those!
“Musically ‘Catcher In the Rye’ is somewhat of a cross between ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson and Elbow’s ‘Sad Captains’, most evident in the inclusion of a brass solo performed by Norwegians ‘Blasemafian’.
“The lyrics aren’t based on the famous novel J.D Salinger, but the song does share its title because it was the last book a late friend of mine lent to me before sadly passing away. The lyrics are about how much I miss him, touching on some memories we had and the ones we never made. I deeply feel like this song was his gift to me from the great beyond which is why it’s such a special one for me.
“After several unfortunate cancellations and schedule clashes with various film-makers, in the end I was forced to get creative and shoot the video myself. Despite not being the initial vision for the video, this ended up being a far more fitting visual companion than what I had in my head. I fortunately have some film-making experience but most importantly I had the last minute help of Kyros’ Shelby Logan Warne to edit my footage, and she absolutely amazingly brought it all to life. Amidst the stress of deadlines, sometimes you just have to have faith and trust that things will work out for the best.” – Ross
“A Shadow Of My Future Self” finds Ross on a musical journey fans have not heard him explore professionally before, writing very personal songs in what can only be described as a love letter to Ross’s extensive record collection and eclectic musical upbringing that were the foundation to his musical inspiration. This album in question starts on the fringe of a country road, navigates indie pop, anthemic rock, power ballads, and culminates in some epic prog.
Ross has the following to say about the project: “Despite my history, I rarely regard myself as a metal singer, so I was in desperate need to scratch a long time itch and make a record that appeals to the broader spectrum of my musical palette. With “A Shadow Of My Future Self”, I unashamedly wear my influences on my sleeve but this is the kind of music I always imagined I’d be making before I took the path less traveled into prog metal… Needless to say, this is somewhat more accessible and radio-friendly stuff!”
“Given the circumstances of being locked down in 2020, I decided very early on that the best way to go for the ‘Feelings’ promo video would be some form of animated presentation. Originally planned to be the lead single, the video game concept started off as a work-around to the limitations of lockdown, but the scope and ambition for the project evolved and escalated exponentially over the course of production. Crystal Spotlight have created some incredible work for HAKEN in the past and our fantastic working relationship is such that I’m always trying to challenge them with my video concepts, but I think this time I took the biscuit!
“Essentially, what Miles Skarin and his team have created is a fully functional platform RPG, which involved weeks and weeks of scene building and some motion capture sessions, which they have integrated into a music video format along with some live scenes filmed earlier this year.
The visuals in the film play homage to various iconic video games from my youth, with the RJ avatar navigating his way through the levels. There are plenty of “Easter eggs” to uncover and the results are really quite mind-blowing!!!
“In terms of the music itself, ‘Feelings’ panders to the sort of arena rock ear candy you would possibly expect from Styx, Kiss, Whitesnake or Journey. “This is a crucial element to my solo work actually, I’ve been more focused on aiming for accessible rock anthems and hooks rather than the intellectual intricacies typically found in my other progressive oriented outlets… for me, this was more about having some fun as a songwriter, performer and classic rock music fan”
“A Shadow Of My Future Self” Artwork
“A Shadow Of My Future Self” is available for pre-order here.
“A Shadow Of My Future Self” Tracklisting:
1. Better Times 4:09
2. Words We Can’t Unsay 5:04
3. Violet 5:30
4. The Apologist 4:56
5. Rocket Science 4:15
6. Catcher in the Rye 5:19
7. Since That Day 3:25
8. Young At Heart 8:14
9. Feelings 4:57
10. Third Degree 4:35
11. Phoenix 11:15
12. Grounded 8:03
13. Year 4:56
14. Be The One (Bonus Track) 3:26
ROSS JENNINGS online: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Streaming Platforms
