Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Bugg, Jake
Label: Mercury Records
Released: 2012
Length: 39:19
Rating: 4/5
Jake Bugg is yet another »wonder kid«, I’d even go as far as calling him a »teenage wizard«, who stands out from the gray average of his British, or really worldwide, peers. At eighteen he put out a studio album all on his own. He wrote all the poetry himself, made the music himself, arranged it himself. On top of the vocals, the guy also picks up the harmonica, guitar and bass. None of this would be all that wondrous if the album »Jake Bugg« weren’t a quality, consistently solid piece of music from start to finish.
These days it’s trendy to blend the traditional melos of folk with a trendy indie rock finish. In Britain Mumford And Sons are »running riot«, in the US The Lumineers. Jake Bugg, meanwhile, belongs among the singer-songwriters. And if there’s one corner of the entertainment world of music where leaning on the crutches of traditional folk melody feels best, it’s singer-songwriting! In his approach you can feel the influence of growing up on Johnny Cash, Donovan, even Cat Stevens, but Jake Bugg, as a polished product of the artistry of new times, leans heavily on the backdrop of British pop rock, where you can enjoy the melodic vocal approach of bands like Oasis. And where Oasis are, The Beatles are always lurking in the background. In the choruses of songs like Taste It, or especially Seen It All, you can pick up on Britpop influences, with a faint breeze of old-school, rounded folk rock n’ roll sentiment à la The Everly Brothers drifting from underneath. Still, in his artistic moves on the studio debut Jake Bugg looks inward and goes his own way. His music carries clear buds of originality and a vision of his own. Jake is a self-grown talent. Just as a singer-songwriter should be. Thanks to his voice, which, despite only just turning manly in color, comes across as remarkably lived-through, genuine and therefore captivating. It’s precisely this vocal sincerity that gives the album the necessary charge of artistic allure that keeps the listener glued to it. From the first second to the last.
Jake isn’t some island clown stuffed full of black humor, the kind who’d stir up sentimental parallels with Monty Python. His lightly hoarse falsetto sounds withdrawn, wistful, yet yearning. In the verses he sketches memories of adventures with friends in the neighborhood of his hometown, Clifton. The pain is there on the album, but pushed underground; it doesn’t rush to the surface, it’s veiled in the delivery. Veering away from the album’s mood is the playful Two Fingers, a tune of otherwise melancholy sentiment that sketches highlights of a young guy’s party night. Clifton’s small world, though, can quickly grow into something much bigger for Bugg. It’s saddled up and aimed straight at the heart of a genuine success story. Especially confessional and richly felt are the songs Broken and Someone Told Me. These are songs where the vocal is accompanied only by the sweet sound of gentle acoustic guitar picking. Here Jake’s voice, with its concise confession and the emotions it delivers, hits the listener especially hard with its truthful delivery of the messages in the verses. The emotional density is especially pronounced in these tenderly intimate moments of the album.
Jake Bugg is a natural talent. A sculpted artist. Cast in the role of singer-songwriter. For a nineteen-year-old that’s simply unbelievable. He found himself in the right place at the right time. The songs in the middle of the album, like Simple As That and Country Song, or Note To Self near the end, nod in their arrangements and vocal approach to Donovan, even Johnny Cash (Country Song especially), but as already said, Jake Bugg comes across as a self-grown talent who wasn’t launched onto the scene by the fakery of talent-show contrivance, but by an honest heart yearning for the truth. That’s why the moments of possible musical inspiration, or influences from older artists, are mere remarks, because at every point the album sustains an effectively unique, personal confession. That’s his most precious asset, giving the artist an exceptional springboard, right at the start of his career, for the further development of his own artistry. Above all the charisma in his vocal sermon, which is there from the very beginning. In a world where borrowing ideas and copying them is the fashion, the album »Jake Bugg« is a real gem that shines differently. With a special and uniquely recognizable glow.
Line-up
Jake Bugg – vocals, guitar
Iain Archer – guitar, drums, bass
Tom Robertson – bass
John Kensington – bass
Jack Atherton – drums
Phil Wilkinson – drums
Matt Prime – harmonica, percussion, backing vocals
Oliver Kraus – strings and string arrangements
Production
Iain Archer, Mike Crossey, Matt Prime, Crispin Hunt & Jason Hart
Track list
1. Lightning Bolt (2:24)
2. Two Fingers (3:15)
3. Taste It (2:24)
4. Seen It All (2:51)
5. Simple as This (3:19)
6. Country Song (1:49)
7. Broken (4:07)
8. Trouble Town (2:50)
9. Ballad of Mr Jones (2:39)
10. Slide (3:08)
11. Someone Told Me (2:36)
12. Note to Self (2:40)
13. Someplace (3:32)
14. Fire (1:45)
