Tuesday 30 September 2014

REVIEW: 'Carry on the Grudge' - Jamie T

Tuesday 30 September 2014
Five years I've been lingering on the music scene, waiting for Jamie T to get his shit together.

The first time I ever listened to Jamie T, it was something fresh and exciting and unlike anything that was around. Panic Prevention was an album I could find no fault with yet have so many fond memories with. Singing and rapping along to songs such as 'If You Got the Money' and 'Sheila' became before (and after) school staples and so after the second album, Kings & Queens came out, I had decided it was about bloody time I went to see him live.


18th of June 2009

After fighting with my best friend Emma over the setlist at the end of a fantastic performance, we loitered around outside and almost at the point of giving up hope on Jamie coming out, he appeared with his then band The Pacemakers and was the nicest person you could ever imagine. 

He was a guy doing what he genuinely loved doing and didn't seem phased at all by the fact that he had already built a good few fans around the UK and elsewhere.

That night was one of the best nights of my life and though the picture is blurry and the ink of his signature has long since faded on my ticket, those are a few things I was always treasure.

You can imagine my post-gig depression was at an all time low, but never would I have thought I'd have to wait over five years to even hear anything else from him.

So I waited. A really long time.

I'd heard a wee while ago that Jamie was working with Tribes on some stuff and about him and the Pacemakers going their separate ways, but still, no music, no social media antics and nothing.

Until one day, Jamie posted on his website and social media that he was back in a handwritten note and that he was playing a few shows. 

My excitement levels went through the roof and I think I screamed at my computer at work whilst my colleagues stared on blankly, even after I had shared my news.

Disappointingly, my nearest show was at Glasgow Art School and not through lack of trying, I didn't manage to get tickets. Depressing as fuck.

Everyone I knew who liked Jamie T was going it would seem and loads of folk at work took the piss.

However, Jamie thankfully didn't stay out of touch for long and then came Don't You Find, the leading single from third album, released on the 29th of September 2014, 'Carry on the Grudge.'


Jamie T 'Carry On The Grudge'


(Took a while to get to this review, I know. I'm not that sorry.)

As far as any Jamie T fan would know, Don't You Find was, different. But I liked it, and was so eager for more. Zane Lowe picked it up quickly and played it on Radio 1 fucking loads, as he did with the next single Zombie.

Zombie was my new favourite song within half of a listen and I must have played it on repeat around 60 times that first day alone.

When, finally, the album was announced, I couldn't wait. Plus with an album, comes a tour, and lo-and-behold I made damn sure I got tickets for this tour. November has to hurry up and arrive because Jamie and his new band are playing the infamous Barrowlands in Glasgow and I'm flustered and fidgety just thinking about it.

Can't. Fucking. Wait.

Though we're the generation of the digital age, there are a few artists where I really like to buy the actual physical copies of albums.

So instead of pre-ordering Carry on the Grudge, I went straight to my local HMV after work on Monday and tracked it down. I was a bit sneaky and had listened to the album on YouTube beforehand, but it only made me want it in my hand even more.

It's bloody brilliant. Probably some of the best music Jamie T has ever written and produced.

The first song off of the album is Limits Lie which I instantly fell in love with, and not just because I'm slightly biased when it comes to Jamie T. There's a real sense of finding where you belong with this album. Though Jamie's style varies from song-to-song there's a certain feel to the whole thing. Another firm favourite to listen out for is Peter.

I'm unfortunately one of those people who will form my opinions on a song from the first time hearing it, but this didn't hinder me at all when it came to this 12-track-delight. The album goes from old school Jamie T-esque rapping about life to delicate melodic tales of a broken heart. With plenty of in-between.

I'd recommend everyone give it a listen, but the songs to look out for are definitely Limits Lie, Zombie, Trouble and Peter.

You were worth the wait Jamie.

I've probably rambled on enough now. Even though I've been writing this for the last half hour, I've had that Taylor Swift song 'Shake It Off' stuck in my head. Fuck her for making catchy pop songs.

Guess I hope you liked this, to anyone reading?




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