‘Jake Bugg’ (Mercury) by Jake Bugg - Album Review

After playing Jake Bugg’s eponymously titled album to death over the past few weeks, it is only fair that I finally get around to writing my review of it. So here goes…

Jake Bugg is a very talented 18-year old singer/songwriter from Nottingham who has recently recorded a slot on the ‘Live at Abbey Road’ TV series and played some high profile gigs over in New York. His style takes in a Britpop feel with distinct echoes of Bob Dylan in his voice that he uses to great effect as he sings about his life growing up in the East Midlands.

You’re probably all familiar with the first track on here; his ‘Lightning Bolt’ single has been a popular tune on the radio for some time now. A gritty and pacey number, ‘Lightning Bolt’ is a great opener to this album.

Jake’s humour comes out on the next number, ‘Two Fingers’, where he sings of going back to the Clifton area of Nottingham to see his old friends whilst at the same time ‘avoiding the Feds’. This is another Jake Bugg A-side.

The singles continue back-to-back with another cracking song, ‘Taste It’, which really starts to give the impression that this is a ‘Greatest Hits’ album – no mean feat for the 18-year olds debut long player.

Next up is my own personal favourite of this 14-song set of originals, ‘Seen It All’, about going to a party having taken a few pills to then discover that most of the other part goers are packing knives and the mounting tension boils over.

The mood turns more acoustic with the delicate but beautiful, ‘Simple As This’, and the style remains similar for yet another single, ‘Country Song’.

This impressive debut album continues to impress throughout with ‘Note To Self’ being my highlight of the remaining songs.

Jake Bugg is clearly a very gifted singer, musician and songwriter and I will be interested to see how far he can take it. And whilst we have the young talent of Jake Bugg, along with The Strypes of course, then the music scene promises to stay vibrant for some time to come.