Overtones – Just Jack

Year Released: 2007

Label: Mercury

Year Bought: 2010

If any of you remember Just Jack, it's probably for his 2007 hit 'Starz In Their Eyes', which hit number 2 in the charts. A song about the dark side of tv talent shows. Very 00s.

Indeed, that would probably be where my knowledge of him would have ended had he not played my university's summer party that year. Backed by a full live band, Jack (full name Jack Allsop) delivered a great set of house-inflected tunes which supported his Streets-esque musings on life, the universe and everything.

Clearly desperately seeking my approval, he popped up again a few weeks later at a free gig in Nottingham city centre, and again I found myself dancing along.

I downloaded some random songs by him at the time, but didn't get this album – his second release – until about 2010.

It's a mixed bag, but when it works, it really does take off. The album feels like it's divided into two main themes – optimism and paranoia.

Opener 'Writer's Block' is great piece of down-on-your-luck pondering, while 'I Talk Too Much' and the 70s disco infused 'No Time' are brilliant ruminations on relationships. 'Life Stories' tries to look on the bright side of life, while acoustic ballad 'Mourning Morning' is a really beautiful tune, with some literal kitchen sink lyrics Billy Bragg would be proud of:

I pick my way through crusty dishes

And their greasy chemistry

I washed two cups and then remember

That you've left already

'Starz In Their Eyes' still sounds great to me, but that might be because it's laced with so much nostalgia. Just hearing it evokes a taste of vodka Red Bull in my mouth, and I feel like I'm in a student nightclub, bumping into people on a sticky dance floor.

Not all the album works. 'Glory Days' is just a bit too twee, and 'Lost' isn't as powerful as it wants to be.

But there's more to like than not on here, and if you only know his big hit, you should definitely check it out.

7/10

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