Just over one year ago, Nottingham’s boy wonder JAKE BUGG made music history. Not only did he become the first Nottingham act to top the charts this millennium, but he also became the youngest solo act to debut number one in the UK charts. Since then, he’s notched up Brit nominations, Mercury nominations and even a headline Splendour festival appearance. Not bad for a 19 year old from Clifton, eh?
Second albums present a challenge; how do you follow an album of such success? An album that has been celebrated as a return to ‘real music’, that has put you on the map as a bonafide music sensation, and had you dubbed as ‘the East Midlands’ Bob Dylan’? Well, if you’re Jake, it seems you light a cigarette, pick up your guitar and ‘hold two fingers up to yesterday’. Shangri La boasts all the brilliant nonchalance, authenticity and witty pragmatism that penetrated his eponymous debut. Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin in his Malibu studio (from where the album takes it’s name), Shangri La perfectly reflects the next leg in the Jake journey. The Greenwich Village 1962 vibes still underpin his music nicely, but it’s grown up. The production values are higher, the choruses are bigger and the guitars are louder, turning this new-age Dylan into some sort of one-man Arctic Monkeys.
JAKE BUGG has gone electric.
No time is wasted and we delve head first into There’s A Beast And We All Feed It, a scathing and fantastically jaunty review of Twitter and it’s trolls that instantly alerts us to Bugg’s new direction. His Skiffle influences are laced throughout, finding release in belters like Kingpin, What Doesn’t Kill You and second single Slumville Sunrise, Shangri La’s answer to Trouble Town with an equally anthemic chorus and wry observations of his surroundings; ‘This place is just not for me, I say it all the time’. This isn’t the only time ol’ Clifton gets a look in. Messed Up Kids can essentially be described as a narrative upon Jake’s return to his hometown, and could quite well be a standout of the album.
There are more sensitive moments in the album, too, where Jake’s gift for expressive lyricism truly shines. The sweet, sentimental Me And You glistens with poetic romance whilst A Song About Love is so goosebump-inducing you’ll require an extra layer, the sustained note in the chorus hauntingly exquisite. Pine Trees & Storm Passes Away have a certain Cash-esque simplicity, a distinct twang that sounds more Tennessee than Midlands and where strummy frills meet country builds.
Obviously the album is great. Jake has a natural flair for writing songs that stick in your head and your heart, that sound bang up to date and 50 years old, and the 12 tracks of Shangri La shine a spotlight on this blistering talent. What’s really exciting however is the musical development that has occurred in the past 13 months, and the prospect of what else is in store. Hopefully in another year we’ll be finding out.
Yours in Love of New Music,
Maddie Hammond
Shangri La is available for order HERE & download HERE.
