Album- Jake Bugg
Artist- Jake Bugg
English singer- songwriter Jake Bugg has emerged as one of
the rising stars of the UK music scene and has created a sound that feels
authentic and finds the singing mixing a gritty tone with undeniable wit. It’s
a refreshing sense of music that feels like something old but yet blends nicely
into the modern world and acts as a reprieve from the typicality’s of today’s
quite dance orientated music scene. However, whilst he might sound refreshing,
Bugg potentially could produce a record that feels a bit one trick pony like,
and might prove that peoples love of electro, dance and synth based sounds that
have risen in the past few years has come about for a reason.
Track 1- Lightning
Bolt
Lightning Bolt is a great way to introduce us to Jake Bugg
in terms of the distinctive quality of his work which is indebted to old school
music and is a cool slice of alternative indie rock music. The lyrics of the
song find Bugg singing about going into the path of a lightning bolt, using
this as a great metaphor for how we don’t know what life is going to bring us
so we should just go with the flow and also maybe take some risks. It is a
strong message lyrically that is given power by the grittiness of Bugg’s vocal
performance that has a really appealing, rustic quality. Production wise the
track features a strong guitar riff and pounding drums that give this great
sense of urgency to the track which is punctuated with great electric guitar
solos that give us that chance to rock out a bit and enjoy the positivity that
Bugg seems to want to instil.
3.5/5
Track 2- Two Fingers
The free yourself spirit seems to continue with this track
that seems to focus on the idea of fighting some demons and just letting lose,
and creating a breezy track that acts as a youthful anthem for letting go, and
which also sounds like it is built for that moment in an indie movie where the
guy/girl realises that he/she should just live life. The song has a bit of a
narrative structure that shows how this is a bit of a retrospective tune, but
at its centre is this memorable chorus that many will identify with in terms of
its stress free sentiment and happy go lucky quality, making this a great tune
to sit and listen to with your friends. The radio like, gritty tone of the
vocal performance here gives the track a great build and that slight ecstasy
inducing tone that makes you chilled and feel like your free, whilst the
production on the track also gives a great build to the track in terms of the
steady drum beats and simple guitar strumming that gives us a chilled track
that is fun and just makes you forget your troubles for 3 minutes and 16
seconds.
4/5
Track 3- Taste It
Things go a bit more country with the prominent guitar bass
line of this track that acts as a strong undertone to the song and makes the
little bit of bitterness in the song feel that bit more potent. The fast paced
lyrical content consumes you in a good way in which Bugg talks about tasting
this person and it almost acting like a poison in that he is more alive but
finds it hard to leave. The lyrics are as a catchy as the previous offerings,
and the vocal performance feels a bit lacklustre in lieu of the happiness of
the previous number, but Bugg still produces a light tone that is a bit
infectious, and the sound of the track production wise is really great, with a
clunky rhythm that feels a bit gritty and continues to building in energy with
the thumping bass and frenzied tone that culminates in this epic style
sounding, if small, guitar solo.
3/5
Track 4- Seen It All
Track 4 brings things to a bit more of an acoustic edge at
first before going into the familiar steady drumbeats and clunky guitar
rhythms, and which creates a simple, steady tempo that really builds for a
crowd rousing chorus. The lyricism of this track is really cool as Bugg brings
a wit to the track mixed with an honesty about the state of the world (or more
prominently just the UK) and focusing on the idea that Bugg has seen all the
things in life that a person can see in that he can’t be shocked anymore,
although he doesn’t necessarily like it. The vocal performance here as a great
build in energy and a touch of sincerity that is helped by the power of the
production, and the song really has a bit of grit to it in the way that it
starts and ends with this more acoustic tone that adds a touch of despair (and
perhaps melodrama) to Bugg’s work.
3.5/5
Track 5- Simple as
This
Bugg goes more folky and organically driven with this track
that finds Bugg still a familiar retrospective mood, but as the song suggests,
he comes here to a bit of a realisation. The song finds the singer telling the
listener about this journey he seems to have been on where he tried to be in
good intent but has realised that there is a simple answer to living life. What
is exactly so simple is an ambiguous quality of the track that makes this a
good song in that it can have different meanings for different listeners. The
vocal performance feels light and refreshing, if perhaps lacking a spark of
passion (although just a little spark). Keeping the production more organic
with the harmonica acting as an undertone is great vibe within the track that
keeps things interesting and creates diversity to the record that makes you
want to hear more.
3.5/5
Track 6- Country Song
A purer, gentle side of the singer is exhibited with this
track that is stripped back and makes the vocal that more potent. The track
finds the singer telling his loved one that he is singing this song from the
heart and will always be there, as well as expressing that he doesn’t want to
be alone. The song’s lyrics have a poetic honesty about them that is very
appealing and which is helped by the delicacy of the vocal performance, which
isn’t polished and has this nice rough edge that gives the heart of the song
and extra kick. With such lyrical and vocal content, the production could have
perhaps been done very badly, but here things are kept simple with guitar
strumming that just keeps a nice pace and really makes the listener think about
what he is singing. And whilst it is a short musical piece, it actually does
sound like a complete song rather than an interlude, and it is one of those
songs where I feel if things had been added to it in terms of length it could
have marred the purity of the track.
4/5
Track 7- Broken
Things are kept on this simple, more stripped back down
tempo tone with this track that finds the singer in a bit of a state of despair
who must carry on even though he is hurt and must put on a brave face. The
production, with its steady back beat and light guitar rhythms combined with
the powerful piano melody, sounds really superb and goes into some strong
orchestral energy in the final section, but not being too overpowering and
clichéd, and at the centre of the production is this feeling of things still
being kept minimal in tone to let the words and the vocals really shine. Once
again Bugg has a great vocal that feels fragile and warming in tone at the same
time, and which he has an echoing quality that mirrors the ideology of hiding
from this idea of being broken.
3.5/5
Track 8- Trouble Town
Things are kicked up a bit more with this track that has a
true sense of honesty lyrically as Bugg talks of benefits and an array of other
things that all mount up to what he sees as a trouble town. The lyrical message isn’t as clear cut with
this track, and so this is a strength of the track I think in that you can take
away something different from the lyrical content. The vocals have a light and
simple tone that gives the song this simmering intensity, whilst the guitar
based sound of the production has a fast paced quality that keeps you both
chilled and interested in the track and makes you listen to the words a little
more.
3.5/5
Track 9- Ballad of Mr
Jones
With a bluesy backbeat that gives a smokey, dark tone to the
song, this track has that feel of a man on death row, which is great as the
lyrical content of the song focuses on this man, Mr Jones, and how his life has
been taken away in the cruelness of the world. The song gives us this sense of
the harsh brutality of the world and is another track that you can take
different messages away from as a listener. The singers slightly gritty vocal
tone works well with the atmospherically dark quality of the track, whilst the
production has a simple foot stomping rhythm that gives a further, heavy
darkness to the song that shows the singer is very much bringing out some
strong emotions on this record.
3.5/5
Track 10- Slide
Slide is another fragile song from the singer that sees his
vocals really take centre stage. Backed by simple guitar strumming that has a
deep tone about it, the song focuses on Bugg singing about sliding with this
girl on a wave of broken dreams. The songs lyrics are focused on imagery and have
a lovely poetic tone that is matched by the fragility of the singers voice and
the distinctive emotion that he conveys. Bugg produces another song that would
work really work well in a indie romance film, and produces his music with a
purity that is infectious.
3.5/5
Track 11- Someone
Told Me
Things become even purer and less sceptic with Someone Told
Me due to its very stripped back nature. With the guitar strumming here having
a lighter tone, things are given a slightly sweeter note with this song where
the singer tells of how someone told me that he is a bit insane as he suffers
in the pangs of heartbreak. The track stripped back quality makes the lyrics
have more of an impact on the listener, and with a controlled vocal that burst
with emotion without going overboard, this is quite the master class of a song
in terms of bringing true emotion to your work.
3.5/5
Track 12- Note to
Self
Whilst it has a mellow sound and a bit of a delicate vocal
that could be taken as sad, Not to Self is actually an uplifting number where
Bugg sings about writing a note to yourself to show some appreciation for what
you are, and not letting your negative feelings get you down. The way the
singer stresses the lyrics and builds up his vocals to these sweet, length
vocal notes gives the track this light musical flavour that is highly
appealing, whilst the songs production builds nicely from the simple guitar
strumming and emotional strings to a light but strong drum led sound that makes
the track rise in a way that will make you feel happy about yourself in a weird
but wonderful way.
3.5/5
Track 13- Someplace
Someplace is another light affair that is very down tempo in
energy, but the song does feel a little bit more modern in energy. The song is
all about the singer using this potent imagery to express how he wants to be
with this person and just wants to find them in someplace. The message is sweet
if a bit repetitive, but the with the distinctive grittiness of his vocals Bugg
gives the track a strong emotional edge that is even more powerful here in
terms of the way that the vocals build to show some real passion from the
singer. The guitar strumming and drums are a nice sound that feels a bit more
modern and a bit Coldplay like in a way, but the only issue is that at this
point we perhaps become bored with the familiar tone of the singers work.
3.5/5
Track 14- Fire
Closing track Fire is a simple and short musical number that
has a sweet and unashamedly romantic quality, as Bugg tells his baby girl of
how he will sing for her. The singers intense voice and distinctive tone gives
the track an added emotional intensity, and backed by simple guitar, this is a
small and sweet way to end the record.
3.5/5
Final Review
Jake Bugg has crafted a beautiful debut album that finds his
fragile, gritty and distinctive vocals brimming with emotion and elevating the
poetic lyricism of his work to great effect. The album is also slickly produced
for a strong acoustic sound that is equally emotionally touching, and the only
minor issue with the record is that things are perhaps a bit down tempo heavy.
But with such a distinctive voice and sound, Bugg offers something different
and interesting to today’s modern music world.
8/10
Best Track- Two
Fingers
Worst Track- Taste It
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