I know the white middle-classes are a big market in this country, and I am sure there is more them than this, but why is music aimed at them always so fucking contrived and dull?
In the head of marketers, there seems to be this vast army of people that just cannot cope with anything challenging when it comes to music. But my theory is this – for those people there is already all the music they will ever need. There is no benefit in rehashing old styles and passing them off as something cutting edge to pop on the coffee table.
It’s not as if they always work out, either. Sandi Thom gloriously faded into obscurity. We never heard from Vanessa Carlson again, and I’m sure karma will catch up with James Blunt eventually. These artists are usually good for one wildly popular album that will soundtrack every generic event of that year, then they will still fill theatres for the follow-up. Then most people have heard enough and have moved onto the next bland non-entity.
And this is just the problem with Jim by JAMIE LIDDELL. It’s an album of soulful funky numbers that is less reminiscent of songs from the northern soul era, but more just a cheap rip-off of them. Overall it’s a lively collection with a couple of slowies thrown in there. The centre-piece of the whole affair is Jamie’s voice – which has been moulded towards that of a white Marvin Gaye, as is clearly demonstrated on opening track “Another Day.”
“A Little Bit of Feelgood” is diluted Gnarls Berkley. “Figured Me Out” is constipated Jamiroquai. Modern re-interpretations of jazz and soul music is hardly a new thing, and this does feel at least ten years too late. ‘Where’d You Go?’ could have been lifted from a Jools Holland collaborations album, and I am not bestowing praise there. It all just sounds like classic music, as performed on the X Factor. That is, very well put together, but utterly vapid.
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I think it’s supposed to be the computer generated noises that make this album stand out, so it seems very modern. But you take away the vocals (and most of the time, I really wish they would), and you’re left with lift music circa 2008. ‘Figured me Out’ limps from funk, to chorus, back to funk, and then back to chorus again, and I’m bored even describing it.
‘Hurricane’ is as promising as it gets – it’s more like a high-pitched electro-song. If this had been my introduction, I would have been interested to hear more. But following on from six pale imitation soul tracks, and then followed by more of the same from ‘Green Light,’ which despite being a soul song, it displays very little feeling at all.
Reading his press release, it sounds like he’s had quite an interesting career to date. One full of genre-hopping, innovation and occasional bits of trailblazing. I’ve clearly arrived at the wrong time.
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