Musical expression can be used for multiple purposes, whether it be entertainment, attention, money, or simply as a medium to communicate mental and emotional turmoil. For Derek Jordan, it just so happens to be the latter. 
Jordan, a singing, song-writing guitarist from Pittsburgh, pours his thoughts, observations and theories into a compilation entitled Identity (fitting, considering the subject matter). The Pennsylvania native plays a variety of alternative and indie rock, heavily influenced by classic rock greats such as Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin. The nature of his vocals can be easily paralleled to Chris Cornell (Who happens to be Jordan’s favorite vocalist–how pleasantly ironic?) and at times, if his voice is high enough, you hear a bit of Ozzy thrown in.
The lyrics for each song are comprised of poetic, one-liners and are quite deep in a psychological and physiological sense. It’s very difficult to determine during the first listen what the underlying meaning is in each track (as with most unique pieces of music), but give it another listen and be patient. It all makes sense in the end. For example, “Good Bye Jupiterâ€, describes the freedom of letting go of a love that wasn’t meant to be and “Vaccine†is an ode to finding yourself naturally, rather than through drugs or other self-destructive behavior (everyone’s got an opinion I suppose).
His classic rock rifts and engaging guitar solos provide a casual atmosphere, almost as if you are watching him jam while he has discussions with you about how he views the world and himself, in a melodic nature of course. Jordan will be having a release party for his album at the King King in Los Angeles on April 2nd, so if you happen to dig his album, pencil it in.
Tracklisting:
01. Goodbye Jupiter
02. Vaccine
03. She Wanted to Change
04. War with Your Love
05. Rather Be Naked
06. Hold on Tight
07. Dancing Vampires
08. I Don’t Bite (Too Hard)
09. Geronimo
10. Living for Two
Derek Jordan: website | myspace
Hengel man, would you mind telling me what’s ironic about someone sounding like their favorite singer? Wouldn’t that just be logical, as they’ve been influenced by that person? Also, how is it possible for lyrics to be physiologically deep? That’d be quite an achievement, but I’m not sure if it’s what you actually meant here. Though I haven’t listened to the album, I’m led to believe that you might have been somewhat, ahem, erroneous in your word choices. In future reviews you might want to just check out dictionary.com about words you’re not sure about before using them.
First of all, it is she, I am not a man. 2nd, I felt it was ironic considering when I first heard the album, the fist parallel I made was with Chris Cornell. It was not meant to be a negative comment. Just ironic that he sounds very similar to his favorite vocalist. Many people attempt to emulate their idols and often it doesn’t work out for them. Third, if you actually listened to the album, you would realize that his music is as much about the physical happenings of the body, instincts, and other physiological processes as much it is about his feelings and emotions. The artist e-mailed me prior to this review being posted and notified me that it was exactly how he wanted his music to be described. Maybe, when reading others’ reviews, you should take the time to learn about the artist, as well as the album before running around the internet trying to correct the writing of others.