Mason Jennings’ Sept. 15 release Blood of Man delivers a shift from the acoustic sound that dominated his earlier albums to more amplified, pulsing compositions. Although Jennings picks up the acoustic guitar only a few times, most of the record still carries a resemblance of calm intonations periodically culminating in raw crescendos and fretful callings.

I initially feared that this album would not be full of the earnest folk that Jennings usually weaves. But even though various reviews have highly proclaimed it as a rock and roll record, Blood of Man is crafted to resonate as a mixture of both. His new direction is depicted by electrified, upbeat, songs that lack excessive instrumentals but coalesce to form beautiful sounds. Frantic drums gyrate in the background as everything else ebbs and flows on “City of Ghosts.” However, Jennings eventually reverts to reminiscing about childhood memories. “Mama, we’re in love with a memory,” he hums lightly, and means heavily.

Choruses of Jennings’ harmonica emerge on “Black Wind Blowing,” a bloodthirsty ballad of gory episodes – “I put my gun up under your chin, my hand was shaking so I dug it in.” A searching, hopeless voice peaks with a quivering, distraught solitude.

Jennings also produced this album, allowing listeners a bigger taste of his unprocessed artifact. The unpolished tunes, along with his nostalgic voice and hymnal poetry are among the major accents that define Blood of Man, giving it the edge that plain old rock and roll can’t quite compete with.