Hear My Morning Jacket’s Outrageous Previously Unreleased ‘Circuital (First Band Demo)’

My Morning Jacket will put out their Circuital (Deluxe Edition) reissue through ATO Records on December 9. The 3LP/2CD set combines the original 2011 studio album with 10 previously unreleased demo recordings, including the never-before-heard “Circuital (First Band Demo)” out today to preview the collection.

Frontman Jim James co-produced MMJ’s sixth studio album with Tucker Martine. The 10-track follow-up to 2008’s Evil Urges was recorded at a church gymnasium in the band’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Circuital was nominated for a Grammy Award in the best alternative music album category.

James wrote all 10 songs on Circuital, which features such beloved favorites as “Victory Dance,” “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” “Holdin On To Black Metal” and its title track. The album was a commercial and critical success that debuted in the five-slot on the Billboard 200 chart and earned raves from many outlets.

“Every record is like a time machine and we all keep changing and changing,” explained Jim James in a statement. “I’ve come to see myself as a kind of older sibling to the younger version of me, so it’s almost like I become two beings when I sing a song from the olden times: one is the person who wrote the song so long ago, the other is the current me who’s there as support for my younger self, alive forever in the multiverse. And then those two voices combine to form something new and different every time.”

“Circuital (First Band Demo)” varies from the version that would arrive on the album in numerous ways. The early take goes heavier on acoustic instrumentation and sees Patrick Hallahan use a compact drum setup. There’s also a distinct lack of keyboards.

Listen to “Circuital (First Band Demo)” below:

The deluxe edition of Circuital is available for pre-order on both CD and as three different vinyl variants — “Setting Sun” (orange vinyl mixed with bright transparent yellow), “Lucifer’s Beach” (opaque blue and ultra-clear marble colored vinyl) and “Inner Light” (neon magenta vinyl mixed with ultra-clear swirl). Each come housed in a glow-in-the-dark triple gatefold jacket with expanded artwork, zoetrope LP labels, a fold-out poster with unreleased studio photos, and a special MMJ Owl graphic side etching. A 20-page booklet is exclusive to the 2CD edition.

Circuital (Deluxe Edition) Tracklist

Disc 1

1. Victory Dance
2. Circuital
3. The Day Is Coming
4. Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
5. Outta My System
6. Holdin On To Black Metal
7. First Light
8. You Wanna Freak Out
9. Slow Slow Tune
10. Movin Away

Disc 2

1. Wonderful (Jim Electronic Demo)
2. Circuital (First Band Demo)
3. Outta My System (Puppet Demo)
4. The Day Is Coming (Jim Demo)
5. Victory Dance (Jim Demo)
6. Movin’ Away (Jim Demo)
7. Slow Slow Tune (Band Demo)
8. First Light (Band Demo)
9. You Wanna Freak Out (Band Demo)
10. Holdin On To Black Metal (Jim Demo)