One-man band Jake spreads his wings
JAKE BUGG: On My One (Virgin EMI) Verdict: Solo splendour ★★★★✩ MUMFORD & SONS: Johannesburg (Island) Verdict: Folk heroes deliver their Graceland ★★★✩✩
When Jake Bugg topped the charts with his first album four years ago, he became — at 18 — the youngest British solo artist to do so.
Singing pithy stories of teenage life accompanied by his fiery electric guitar, he appealed to an audience ready to turn its back on pop, rap and R&B.
By looking instead to old- school skiffle and Sixties Beat, he earned admiring glances from noel Gallagher and Paul Weller. And when he followed his debut with another set of short, sharp songs, his retro-leaning style appeared set in stone.
now, at 22, the moptopped Bugg is changing tack. Without losing anything in terms of authenticity, he is embracing all the styles he once seemed so set against: he plays funk; he sings electronic pop; he does classic American rock; he even raps.
Bugg, who wrote, produced and played guitar, bass and drums on the majority of the 11 songs here, explains: ‘I wanted to incorporate as many styles as possible without sounding self-indulgent — and I’ve always loved a good guitar solo.’
The change of gear isn’t immediately apparent. The opening title track is an acoustic blues number detailing the solitude of the longdistance singer-songwriter, with On My One being a nottinghamshire phrase for being alone. But the dramatic departures soon arrive.
Powered by funky drums and synthetic grooves, Gimme The Love signals Bugg’s leap from stark monochrome to gaudy Technicolor. The singer says he penned the song’s repetitive chorus as a pop parody, but it does its job brilliantly.
Just as impressive are the soulful never Wanna Dance and Love, hope And Misery, a melodramatic ballad in the tradition of harry nilsson’s Without You. Bugg’s rockier leanings come to the fore on Bitter Salt, which features a searing guitar salvo in the style of San Francisco flower-power pioneers Jefferson Airplane.
he stumbles only once. The autobiographical Ain’t no Rhyme features the unconvincing sound of Bugg rapping. It transpired the track was finished in a rush to meet deadlines, but it would have been worth taking the time to enlist a professional rapper. BUT it’s a rare slip on a diverse return that finds Bugg spreading his wings while including a sufficient number of softer, acoustic songs to please his original fans.
MUMFORD & SONS took their sideburns and grandad shirts out of the clubs and into stadiums before dispensing with acoustic instruments last year.
now they return to a folkier approach on mini-album Johannesburg. Recorded over two days in South Africa, it features cordial collaborations with Senegalese singer Baaba Maal, Cape Town pop group Beatenberg and electronic trio The Very Best.
The contrasting styles blend well. There Will Be Time features the return of Winston Marshall’s banjo. With Marcus Mumford and Baaba Maal duetting beautifully, it builds into a powerful love song.
elsewhere, Si Tu Veux is a Peter Gabriel- like fusion and Wona (written by Marcus and a member of Beatenberg ‘after a few ales’) is a euphoric love song driven by syncopated rhythms that recall Paul Simon’s Graceland.