Rating: 4/5
Review:
A very good, country-tinged album
Ladies and gentlemen, Jake Bugg has left the building. Or at least, he's left the building in Clifton
where he grew up and has moved on a long way from that raw, electrifying power
which made his first album so spellbinding.
Here he has moved as far as Nashville,
and it shows in the very country-tinged sound of this album. I think it's a very good album, although not
everyone may agree.
You can't go on being an angry teenager forever, and Jake
Bugg has mellowed but his songs still retain a melancholy, rather bleak
tone. I suspect some of the people I
grew up with in Nottingham might have described him as a
bit of a miserable bogger. There's
nothing wrong with that in music, though, and there are some lovely songs on
Hearts That Strain. In The Event Of My
Demise, Indigo Blue and the title track show a real musical depth and
developing lyrical skill, I think; he has the ability to write words which
don't quite make literal sense sometimes, but still convey something important.
It's a major quality of Dylan's and
Leonard Cohen's work, and while I don't want to bracket him with those two
towering geniuses it's a sign that there's enduring and developing talent here.
I liked Jake Bugg's first two albums very much but wasn't
nearly so taken with On My One. This,
while not quite having the sensational impact of those early records, is a fine
album again and an indication that Bugg still has a lot to offer us. Recommended.
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