Saturday, 2 September 2017

Jake Bugg - Hearts That Strain


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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