Refractions, Vol. 1 by Jake Allen and Jennifer Mann

Much of Refractions, Vol. 1 from musician Jake Allen and painter Jennifer Mann hinges on their shared bond of synesthesia, a condition that allows individuals to experience their senses in a blended fashion – i.e. certain sounds are associated with certain colors. Shortly after their first meeting, Allen and Mann began experimenting with her painting visual interpretations of Allen’s instrumentals, and he began composing other pieces in response to her other works. These endeavors are collected in a ten-track outing dubbed Refractions, Vol. 1 – a release unlike any you’ve likely ever encountered. 

URL: https://www.jakeallenmusic.com/

This doesn’t mean it’s inaccessible or lacks the capacity to entertain. Jake Allen proves that he has near-virtuosic talents as a musician while never forgetting that melody, that elusive white whale that any songwriter worth their salt seeks to snare, will be a key component to ensuring his work with Mann has genuine staying power. 

“Diamond” opens the collection and harbors a lot of sound and fury However, it soars thanks to Allen’s penchant for melody. They are grand, winding passages that thrust skyward, full of well-defined edges like the shapes in Mann’s painting, and he approximates the swirl of color splattered across her canvas. Art novices may look at her work and see a rush of color without rhyme or reason. The attuned eye will react favorably by judging the music and image together, 

The artistic partnership of Allen and Mann is enthusiastically diverse. The second track “Aquamarine” backs away from the rousing content of the preceding track. Much of the arrangement is muted compared to “Diamond”, but Allen can’t resist punctuating the performance with dynamic rhythmic shifts and more soaring electric guitar. Mann’s painting has more settled qualities than “Diamond”, but flaring passions are never far from the surface. 

Despite the progressive influence heard from these tracks, Allen maintains a manageable compositional length. “Tiger’s Eye” runs a little less than six minutes long. It gives him ample room to develop musical ideas complementary to Mann’s painting. She utilizes yellow in a much bolder fashion than previous paintings allowed, and the marked difference between “Tiger’s Eye” and its predecessors is notable. 

“Lapis Lazuli” is one of Mann’s most eye-catching visual compositions. She doesn’t depict movement in a swirl so much as currents, never fixed. The abundance of blue and green contrasts well with its smattering of yellow, red, and white. Allen’s musical contributions follow the same near-orchestral template defining other tracks. He varies his tempo and begins from a low-key place before transitioning into full-throttle guitar-driven progressive rock. 

Allen and Mann alike shift gears with “Obsidian”. However, the shift is more pronounced for the latter as she uses black more than ever before and brings the other brighter colors to more vivid life in contrast. The slightly downcast melody in the opening sets the stage for all that follows, but that isn’t readily apparent with a first listen. Refractions, Vol. 1 has a general musical formula that Allen adheres to. However, he’s willing to feint, and never shows us the same exact face from track to track. It’s a spectacular work, by any measure, and begs for multiple listens to fully understand its depths. 

Mindy McCall