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{{For| Undercover Brothers Ug's album |At Dawn (Undercover Brothers Ug EP)}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = At Dawn
| type       = [[Album]]
| artist     = [[My Morning Jacket]]
| cover      = At dawn.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|2001|04|06}}
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     = Above The Cadillac Studios ([[Shelbyville, Kentucky]])
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Indie rock]]|[[psychedelic rock]]|[[Southern rock]]|[[alternative country]]}}
| length     = 73:54
| label      = [[Darla Records]]
| producer   = Jim James
| prev_title = [[The Tennessee Fire]]
| prev_year  = 1999
| next_title = [[Chocolate and Ice]]
| next_year  = 2002
}}
'''''At Dawn''''' is the second studio album by American rock band [[My Morning Jacket]]. Produced by group frontman [[Jim James]], the album was released on April 6, 2001 by [[Darla Records]]. The Kentucky-based group had begun several years prior when James needed an outlet for folky, acoustic songs. Its first album for independent label Darla, 1999's ''The Tennessee Fire'', attracted a devoted following in the Netherlands, prompting the young band to tour heavily.
''At Dawn'' is a turning point for the band in its steps toward more ambitious song lengths and eclecticism in other genres. Like its predecessor, the group recorded the album at James' extended family's soybean farm in rural Kentucky. He recorded his vocals in an abandoned grain silo to take advantage of its natural reverb.
==Background==
My Morning Jacket was started by singer-songwriter Jim James in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. James created the project as an [[acoustic music|acoustic]] outlet for songs he felt were unsuitable for his main band, Month of Sundays.<ref name="p4k02">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5868-my-morning-jacket/|title=My Morning Jacket|date=August 1, 2002|first=William|last=Bowers|website=Pitchfork|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref> He recruited his cousin Johnny Quaid on guitar, Tom Blankenship on bass, and J. Glenn on drums, and the quartet signed to independent label [[Darla Records]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sentinelnews.com/content/my-morning-jacket-has-shelby-county-roots|title=My Morning Jacket has Shelby County roots|first=Brad|last=Bowman|website=The Sentinel-News|date=September 18, 2012|accessdate=September 16, 2021|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916203436/https://www.sentinelnews.com/content/my-morning-jacket-has-shelby-county-roots|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their debut album, ''[[The Tennessee Fire]]'' (1999), attracted a devoted following in the Netherlands, prompting the band to secure management and tour heavily.<ref name="g02">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/nov/22/artsfeatures3|title=My Morning Jacket|date=November 21, 2002|first=Dave|last=Simpson|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Flickr - Nicholas T - Snowmelt.jpg|thumb|right|Frontman Jim James recorded his vocals in an unused [[grain silo]].]]
Like its predecessor, ''At Dawn'' was recorded at Quaid's rural [[family farm]] in [[Shelbyville, Kentucky]], a city outside Louisville. The group converted an apartment above a three-car garage at the property into a [[home studio]], which they called Above the [[Cadillac]].<ref name="ct03">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-05-09-0305090288-story.html|title=Band finds unique muses|date=May 9, 2003|first=John|last=Cook|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref> James recorded his vocals in an abandoned grain silo, utilizing its natural [[reverb]].<ref name="g11">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/27/my-morning-jacket-jim-james-interview|title=My Morning Jacket: 'We had to work it out ourselves'|date=October 27, 2011|first=Stevie|last=Chick|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref> He professed a love for atmospheric, "huge open sounds, such as vocals cut far away from the mic in a big room," specifically pointing to [[the Rolling Stones]]' ''[[Exile on Main Street]]'', or [[John Bonham]]'s drum work on [[Led Zeppelin]] albums.<ref name="pcp01"/> James noted the group committed themselves to recording: "we locked ourselves in for many days with all the necessary elements–lights, candles, [[Madonna]]’s ''[[The Immaculate Collection|Immaculate Collection]]'', [[Dreamcast]] and cookies."<ref name="pcp01">{{cite news|title=My Morning Jacket|date=June 14, 2001|first=Brian|last=Howard|newspaper=[[Philadelphia City Paper]]}}</ref> Years later, he looked back fondly at the process, highlighting his youth and inexperience: "We were just so green and just such infants, we didn't really know anything about professional recording or anything like that, but we recorded it all ourselves and recorded it all to tape and just had a really amazing time out there," he said.<ref name="utr17">{{cite web|url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/my_morning_jacket_on_at_dawn|title=My Morning Jacket on ''At Dawn''|date=June 14, 2001|first=Scott|last=Sacks|magazine=Under the Radar|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref> It was the first time the quartet made an album with the foresight that, due to their burgeoning overseas fanbase, people would be listening.<ref name="utr17"/> After recording, James co-mixed the album with David Trumfio at Kingsize Sound Labs.
''At Dawn'' has been described as a "loose, sprawling collection of folk-rock songs that hearken back to the glory days of [[classic rock]]."<ref name="ct03"/> The ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''{{'s}} John Cook characterized that the use of reverb "lends it the character of a distant transmission, a dispatch from a different time."<ref name="ct03"/> James clarified the band's mission in a 2001 interview: "We’re just trying to bring rock ’n’ roll back to the table, plain and simple [...] pure rock ’n’ roll with a heart that beats for the common man."<ref name="pcp01"/> James wrote "The Way That He Sings" about his favorite vocalists, specifically [[Roy Orbison]] and [[Neil Young]], and their intonation and voice.<ref name="p4k02"/>
In 2023 James revealed that the cover photo is of the [[Hollywood Bowl]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwf99LSgTLK/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== | title=Instagram }}</ref>
==Release==
{{Album ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-dawn-mw0000010344|title=At Dawn – My Morning Jacket|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=April 8, 2018|last=Miles|first=Terrance}}</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=My Morning Jacket: At Dawn|journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|issue=113|date=April 2003|page=96}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev3Score = 7.1/10<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5533-at-dawn/|title=My Morning Jacket: At Dawn|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=June 5, 2001|accessdate=April 8, 2018|last=Dare|first=Christopher}}</ref>
| rev4      = ''[[Stylus Magazine]]''
| rev4Score = A−<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/my-morning-jacket/at-dawn.htm|title=My Morning Jacket – At Dawn – Review|work=[[Stylus Magazine]]|date=September 1, 2003|accessdate=July 2, 2019|last=Golden|first=Matt|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331085308/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/my-morning-jacket/at-dawn.htm|archivedate=March 31, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev5      = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=My Morning Jacket: At Dawn|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|issue=70|date=March 2003|page=97}}</ref>
}}
''At Dawn'' was first issued on [[compact disc]] in [[Belgium]] and the Netherlands on March 30, 2001 through Darla Records. The label made it available for [[mail order]] on April 5 in the U.S. and elsewhere, with a general retail release occurring on April 17. The first 2500 copies on CD included a bonus disc of [[demo (music)|demos]] that James recorded in his bedroom,<ref name="p4k02"/><ref name="pcp01"/> which was also included with the album's original vinyl release, which followed on April 28, 2001. Darla made "The Way That He Sings" available on its website as a preview for the upcoming album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.darla.com/catalog/search.asp?id=2263|title=Darla Records On-Line|website=Darla.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010530211511/http://www.darla.com/catalog/search.asp?id=2263|archivedate=May 30, 2001|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref>
The album bolstered the band's fanbase in their home country, earning praise from [[Foo Fighters]] frontman [[Dave Grohl]],<ref name="rs02">{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/one-on-one-with-dave-grohl-249292/|title=One-on-One With Dave Grohl|date=November 5, 2002|first=Kirk|last=Miller|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref> with whom the group later toured, as well as English band [[Doves (band)|Doves]].<ref name="g02"/>
==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| all_writing     = [[Jim James]]
| headline        =
| total_length    = 73:54
| title1 = At Dawn
| length1 = 3:49
| title2 = Lowdown
| length2 = 3:53
| title3 = The Way That He Sings
| length3 = 5:35
| title4 = Death Is My Sleezy Pay
| length4 = 5:28
| title5 = Hopefully
| length5 = 5:55
| title6 = Bermuda Highway
| length6 = 3:19
| title7 = Honest Man
| length7 = 7:46
| title8 = X-mas Curtain
| length8 = 4:49
| title9 = Just Because I Do
| length9 = 2:55
| title10 = If It Smashes Down
| length10 = 5:28
| title11 = I Needed It Most
| length11 = 6:36
| title12 = Phone Went West
| length12 = 7:05
| title13 = Strangulation!
| length13 = 8:08
| title14 = Untitled Bonus Song
| note14 = Hidden track
| length14 = 3:08
}}
{{tracklist
| headline        = Bonus CD: At Dawn Demos
| total_length    = 44:00
| title1 = Way That He Sings
| length1 = 5:03
| title2 = Hopefully
| length2 = 3:48
| title3 = Just Because I Do
| length3 = 2:59
| title4 = Bermuda Highway
| length4 = 2:53
| title5 = Lowdown
| length5 = 4:19
| title6 = Honest Man
| length6 = 4:07
| title7 = At Dawn
| length7 = 1:54
| title8 = I Needed It Most
| length8 = 4:26
| title9 = Lead Me Father
| length9 = 3:13
| title10 = Phone Went West
| length10 = 3:50
| title11 = Chills
| length11 = 7:28
}}
{{tracklist
| headline        = 20th Anniversary Edition
| total_length    = 37:07
| title1 = Bermuda Hwy (Live on KVRX)
| length1 = 3:36
| title2 = Lowdown (Live on KVRX)
| length2 = 4:37
| title3 = Hopefully (Live on KVRX)
| length3 = 4:57
| title4 = Nashville to Kentucky (Live on KVRX)
| length4 = 5:08
| title5 = I Needed It Most (Live on KVRX)
| length5 = 6:02
| title6 = I Will Be There When You Die (Live on KVRX)
| length6 = 7:50
| title7 = Just Because I Do (Live on KVRX)
| length7 = 4:55
}}
* Track 4 is listed as "Death Is the Easy Way" in the liner notes.
* Track 12 is listed as "Phone Went Dead" in the liner notes.
* Track 14 is not shown in the album's track listing, but is credited as such in the "For the Record" section of the liner notes. It is often listed as "Hidden Song #1", "Untitled Bonus Track", "Mediate, Try Not To Hate... Love Yer Mate, Like Sex On 8...", or "Bonus Track."
==Personnel==
*Jim James – vocals, guitars, harmonica, banjo
*Johnny Quaid – guitar
*Two Tone Tommy – bass guitar
*J. Glenn – drums
*Keenan Lawler– Resonator guitar
*Danny Cash – keyboards
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Discogs master|126149|At Dawn|type=album}}
{{My Morning Jacket}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:My Morning Jacket albums]]
[[Category:2001 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Jim James]]
[[Category:Darla Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded in a home studio]]