One of the most distinctive recordings of the early 2000s, Jon Brion’s one and only solo album Meaningless is a master course in power pop-inspired art rock songwriting and production. Uniting psychedelic rock, classic songwriters, tape loop soundscapes, and chiming folk jangle, the record offers a vivid backdrop for Brion’s wry observations on love, reality, and the elusive quality of meaning—all that plus a mind-bending Cheap Trick cover. More than two decades later, its emotional core remains undiminished by year’s spent in the major label wringer, both before and after its creation. Like his work with artists including Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, and Elliott Smith, Brion’s songs offer depth and resonance, and like his soundtrack work on films like Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, I Heart Huckabees, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, its scope is widescreen. Remastered and artist approved, Meaningless can finally be heard the way Brion intended.
