Hear Jim James’ Space Funk Odyssey ‘Everything (The Universe)’
To celebrate NASA’s Juno Mission entering Jupiter’s orbit on July 4th, Apple has recruited a wide range of artists to contribute new music to mark the historic occasion. Following Weezer and Trent Reznor’s tracks Thursday, Apple Music has unveiled the latest batch of universe-inspired cuts, including My Morning Jacket singer Jim James‘ spacey, thrilling “Everything (The Universe).”
For the track, James collaborated with fellow Lexington, Kentucky rocker Lydia Burrell. After a spectral, moody opening, the song’s ominous bass line kicks in and suddenly the track is travelling at warp speed, finally exploding into a psychedelic guitar freak out in the latter quarter of James’ space opera. “The universe can only be as big as my mind,” the singer echoes near the finale.
“Everything (The Universe)” follows Weezer’s tongue-in-cheekily patriotic “I Love the USA” and Reznor and Atticus Ross’ “Juno” as part of the Destination Juno collaboration between NASA and Apple. Other artists to take part in the project include GZA (“The Spark“), Brad Paisley, Corinne Bailey Rae, QUIÑ and Zoé.
The Juno spacecraft will enter Jupiter’s orbit on July 4th. The mission’s Twitter has shared frequent updates regarding the Juno’s journey as well as the sound captured at the exact moment the spacecraft entered the planet’s magnetic field, a noise that was “analogous to a sonic boom”:
“Juno will plunge into uncharted territory, entering orbit around the gas giant and passing closer than any spacecraft before,” NASA’s website explained of the road ahead. “But first it must pass the trial of orbit insertion.”