Solo Album #3 (A Likely Story)

I agree, I love this one! Listened several times today alone. I’ll see what I can make out and hopefully between the two of us, we’ll have it figured out.

This is what I came up with. Two parts I was pretty iffy on (second verse and a line in the chorus):

I hate to wake you from your slumber
Heaven forbid if that’s the case
Not the only whose got your number
You want more now that you’ve had a taste

A crooked smile, a clever (line of smoke?)
Keep all the critics there at bay
And all the while you’re out of ways to cope
Almost out of cards to play

Now you’re walking on a tightwire
But you ain’t Chucky Blondin
You’re playing both sides
And it’s only gonna backfire
And I don’t get no money (?),
got the whole world fooled
At least for a little while
Running out of tricks for your getaway sticks/stakes (?)
Now you’re walking on a tightwire

You make space to come up empty
'Cause their defense will be back soon
Fair weathered faces, yeah there’s plenty
More than enough to fill the room

Now you’re walking on a tightwire
But you ain’t Chucky Blondin
You’re playing both sides
And it’s only gonna backfire
And I don’t get no money (?),
got the whole world fooled
At least for a little while
Running out of tricks for your getaway sticks/stakes (?)
Now you’re walking on a tightwire

I hate to wake you from your slumber
Heaven forbid if that’s the case
Not the only whose got your number
You want more now that you’ve had a taste

Now you’re walking on a tightwire
But you ain’t Chucky Blondin
You’re playing both sides
And it’s only gonna backfire
And I don’t got no money (?),
got the whole world fooled
At least for a little while
Running out of tricks for your getaway sticks/stakes (?)
Now you’re walking on a tightwire
Now you’re walking on a tightwire
Now you’re walking on a tightwire
Now you’re walking on a tightwire

So apparently the new album will be called ‘A Likely Story’. Jay said in his Time Machine newsletter that ‘Pips’ will be featured in the new record.

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Ooh missed that email - I like the title a lot! Paper Cuts, Ode to Silence, A Likely Story… all great names. This one in particular prompts questions - what is the story? Why is it likely?

Damn I missed the email too. I’ll have to double check.

On a side note, I do feel like Jays songwriting is gaining more depth between the new Oz record and Chucky Blondin. I feel like the lyrical “quality” is that of early Lifehouse. Does that make sense? It seems more natural and thoughtful.

Ok I feel bad now seeing that I’m the only who receive the email haha. Let me share a screenshot of that email.

Yes @shawn I feel the same way! Ode to Silence is one of most played album this last year. Looking forward to his 3rd album, hoping that there’ll be a good mix of new and old songs (cross fingers for Eighties and The Edge/What Happens Next)

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Thanks for sharing! I found it. I must’ve marked it read when it came in because I already saw his post on Instagram.

I’m also hoping for Take the Weight. There is a full copy out there (gold CD-R sold on eBay) but it was never shared to my knowledge :disappointed:

Haven’t had much of a chance to really listen to Little Ocean until just now but… is Jason having a baby!?

“Even Pips stuck around to say hello”

So incredibly happy for them if they are. “Windows” was a hard one to hear, but one of my favorite solo tunes for its raw emotion.

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I was kinda wondering too… gosh I hope so. That would be wonderful!

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So, “A Likely Story” was released on Amazon Music (not sure about other streaming services), and it says that it is an EP that was released on January 12, 2023. Maybe Jason used his time machine too much and got his dates mixed up? :woman_shrugging:

Oh really? Does it show the tracklist? If so, can you share here?

Every time he releases a single, it comes with the previous singles he has released for the upcoming album under it with the new single’s album art. The four songs on the EP are the four he has released (Chucky Blondin, Little Ocean , What Happens Next, A Likely Story).




Maybe this is just considered an EP on Amazon Music because it is four songs long? And the date is a mistake? Doesn’t Jason usually wait a few weeks to release a single publicly off of the Time Machine?

Yeah, I’m guessing that’s wrong. He specifically mentioned recording Butterfly and Eighties for this and that it was an album - no mention of an EP. My guess is that Jason hasn’t uploaded the rest of the tracks yet so it’s only showing the released ones.

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One of my big beefs with Spotify and Amazon is the way they categorize releases themselves, rather than artists putting the label they want on it. It’s more lucrative to include all the releases to date, but after four or five it starts messing up the discography section by listing a bunch of “EPs” that are really just singles.

J has been calling it a “record”, which is what he kept referring to Goodbye Kanan as when it was released and that was only six songs… so his idea of a “record” doesn’t equal a long play album. However, it was referred to as an “album” by a recent interview, so I suspect it’ll be released as a longer set and this is just a blip. He mentioned something big happening next week so maybe it’s an official announcement?

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Jason released acoustic versions of Little Ocean and What Happens Next. I especially enjoy Little Ocean’s acoustic version- the piano fits it really well! I still can’t make out a few words in Little Ocean, even though the lyrics seem to be clearer.

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I really like these acoustic versions. What happens next is actually the original version without drums, but really beautiful. I like the backing vocals at the end of little oceans.

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Jason has released an acoustic version of Chucky Blondin and I love it! This one, unlike the other two, has a correct release date listed on Amazon Music… I wonder if he’ll make an acoustic version of A Likely Story… I hope so, and I hope that if he does then he’ll keep that lovely guitalele intro. In Chucky Blondin, I think the vocals are a lot easier to understand in the spots that we weren’t sure of the words before, and I can finally hear “cause their defense will be back soon” better than my first transcription of that line as “said the Feds will be back soon” (which is more humorous but makes less sense).

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I’m pretty sure Jason had accidentally put the wrong year on all of his recent releases so they should have been released in 2024 on their listed day and month and not 2023. “A Likely Story” and the acoustic versions of “Little Ocean” and “What Happens Next” have been removed from streaming services.

When do you reckon the album gonna come out? I think it’s going to release soon enough, now that we’ve heard 4 tracks from the album

Didn’t Jason release all but Windows as a single before releasing Ode to Silence? So, he could possibly be doing that again with his next album, in which case we’d still have a while to go… but he might not do that again. Øzwald’s Garden of the Sun only had three singles released before the album was fully released, and then an acoustic version of the title track released afterwards. Plus, he might want us to have a “surprise” factor on the album for the reimagined old Lifehouse b-sides that he has mentioned putting on A Likely Story. He’s already released What Happens Next, so he might be saving the others (if he is still planning on putting them on the album) for the official album release. I just hope it comes out this year… I’m so excited.