My Morning Jacket die-hards know that the band has always harbored a cheesy mischievous streak that’s resulted in ’80s covers and prominent use of Jim James’s falsetto. Their drum machine driven “cover” of “West End Girls” was probably a result of copious amount of ganja in the recording studio at 3 AM, but their live version of “Careless Whisper” actually kicks some legitimate ass, and Terri Nunn proclaimed MMJ’s questionably in-tune rendition of “Take My Breath Away” as the “greatest Berlin cover ever.” (Did I just make that up? Google that shit.)

But Z‘s (2006) opener “Wordless Chorus” was arguably the first time that Jim James utilized his falsetto for something other than cheap yuks, and the result was an instant Jacket classic, opening nearly every one of their incendiary live shows with dub basslines eventually giving way to joyous falsetto caterwauling and a “Benny and the Jets” tribute. And nearly everything on “WC”’s wildly successful parent album was as good, cementing My Morning Jacket’s status as adventurous Southern rockers more than willing to think outside of the box, not to mention as the only outdoor festival act outside of Radiohead that you should rightfully kill yourself for missing.

If the opening title track from MMJ’s forthcoming Evil Urges is any indication, Jacket studio album number five is going to be a touch nutty. Z validated their willingness to take risks, so they further the freakiness by taking that album’s “It Beats 4 U” to Paisley Park Studios, imbuing crisp drum licks and a tentative guitar line with breathless falsetto verses and a S-E-X-X-Y chorus all “Eeeeevil uhr-ges, bay-beh!” This is how it goes up until the three-minute mark, where it morphs into a twin-geetar Southern rock fest that makes fellow CMG scribe Peter Hepburn “happy about life.” I could say the same about the entirety of MMJ’s back catalogue, and “Evil Urges” is no different. Do I hear an early contender for AOTY?

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