A complaint I often get is that I review stacks of acts people have never heard of. My response is that that’s entirely the point. Major acts are reviewed everywhere, from ‘Mojo’ to ‘The Sun’, ‘The NME’ to every blog by endless opinionated no-nothing bozos the world over. You don’t need me to review the new U2 or Radiohead album, by and large. But breaking new acts is a different matter. It’s vindicating, then, when an act reviewed favourably by W&H when they were just starting out goes on to bigger and better things.
Take Jon Byrne, for instance. An 8/10 review for his debut album, ‘It’s Boring Being in Control’ way back in 2009. Cut forward to 2013 and album number two, ‘Built By Angels’ and 6Music’s Huey Morgan and Steve Lamacq are all over the guy, with ‘Uncut’, ‘R2’, and ‘The Mirror’ all backing him.
Double a-side single ‘Don’t Let Life Get You Down’ / ‘Forever Chasing That Feeling’ takes a track from each of these albums, and as such, is something of a stop-gap career assessment. No bad thing for those who’ve not been keeping up to speed. ‘Don’t Let Life Get You Down’, from the first LP, is a lively, spirited feelgood number with an uplifting message and ragged, unpretentious delivery that’s infectious and hugely appealing, while ‘Forever Chasing That Feeling’ is a deft slice of Kinks-like Britpop that boasts a rabble-rousing chorus and instant melodic hook.
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It’s good stuff, for sure: just remember, you heard it here first.
Jon Byrne Online
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