My Morning Jacket Celebrate Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Release Withy 'Wordless Chorus' Video

10-04-2025

(BH) My Morning Jacket have released Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. Remastered from the original master tapes by GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Emily Lazar (Beck, Jacob Collier), the album is available now digitally, on CD, and as a 3LP set on pink, coral, and blue-colored vinyl, highlighted by 14 key outtakes from singles and film work, previously unreleased material, demos, and more.

To celebrate the release of Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, a new official music video for the classic album opener, "Wordless Chorus," directed by Sam Erickson, is streaming now on YouTube. Rolling Stone posted an exclusive podcast conversation with Jim James about the making of the album earlier this week.

Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition was first unveiled this summer alongside the rarely heard "Where To Begin," available now on all DSPs and streaming services. Written especially for Cameron Crowe's 2005 film Elizabethtown - set in Kentucky and partially shot in MMJ's hometown of Louisville - the track was among the first songs recorded by the band with then-new members keyboard player Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel, the latter on stone-country pedal steel guitar. The band then shared the previously unreleased echo-laden romp, "The Devil's Peanut Butter."

To further commemorate the 20th anniversary of Z, My Morning Jacket have slated a number of very special shows that will see them performing the landmark collection in its entirety. The Z - 20th Anniversary shows will take place as part of previously announced dates on the upcoming second leg of their MY MORNING JACKET "is" ON TOUR, including Morrison, CO's Red Rocks Amphitheatre (August 15), Los Angeles, CA's Hollywood Palladium (August 19), Brooklyn, NY's Brooklyn Paramount (October 16), Chicago, IL's The Salt Shed (October 26), and Atlanta, GA's Fox Theatre (November 1). Tickets for all five Z - 20th Anniversary shows are on sale now.

"October 4 is the 20th anniversary of our album Z. It's pretty wild to think about that," says James. "To celebrate two decades of it being out in the ether, we're excited to be turning five of our shows into special Z anniversary shows, where we'll play that album - and some other songs, don't worry - front to back."

My Morning Jacket will also return to the Austin City Limits TV stage on October 18 for a special hour-long episode, marking their first appearance on the program in nearly a decade. The occasion will honor their induction into the 11th Annual ACL Hall of Fame, with Oscar-winning filmmaker and best-selling author Cameron Crowe presenting the award. The appearance will premiere on YouTube and the PBS App on October 7.

Named by Rolling Stone among "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time," Z proved an immediate milestone for My Morning Jacket upon its October 4, 2005, release, earning worldwide critical applause for its ambitious fusion of sonic approaches, musical styles, and expressive songcraft. Co-produced with legendary British producer John Leckie - known for his work with XTC, The Stone Roses, and Radiohead, among many others - Z marked the band's fourth studio album and first to feature its current, enduring lineup of James, keyboard player Bo Koster, guitarist Carl Broemel, bassist Tom Blankenship, and drummer Patrick Hallahan. From the radiant "Wordless Chorus" and big-riff crunch of "Gideon" to the astral-funk spinout, "Off the Record," and improvisational thunder of "Dondante," the album proved My Morning Jacket's breakthrough, employing such surprising influences as dub, reggae, and electronica to create an awe-inspiring collection that wasn't simply rock 'n' roll, yet in James' words, "moved you like rock 'n' roll."

"Recorded outside My Morning Jacket's Louisville comfort zone, at a studio in upstate New York, Z was the debut of a brand new band in ten songs of intensely personal sharing," writes veteran rock journalist David Fricke in the exclusive Z 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition liner notes, "illuminated with jubilant studio risk, rhythms expressly made for dancing and hooks that would not quit."