- Music
- 08 Aug 17
God knows how he finds the time in his ultra busy schedule, but Ed Sheeran has a not only penned the first single off Jamie Lawson’s new album but is also releasing it on his own record label Gingerbread Man Records.
Check out here Ed's chat to the Ivor Novello Award winning musician, Jamie about the new album ‘Happy Accidents’, due for release at the end of September 2017 on Sheeran’s own label Gingerbread Man Records via Warner Music.
Ed had this to say about Jamie’s new release: “I’m so excited to be releasing ‘Happy Accidents’ by Jamie Lawson on my label Gingerbread Man Records; I truly think it’s the best music he’s ever written. Jamie has had an incredible couple of years, and I feel very lucky to be a part of his journey so far.”
Here’s Jamie and Ed performing the first track from the record ‘Can’t See Straight’, which co-wrote Johnny McDaid.
Jamie tells us he had to pinch himself when he found himself recording the new album at Sunset Sound Studios, LA. “This is where the album was recorded. All The Doors records were made here as well as those of James Taylor, early Prince, Elliott Smith, Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow and Counting Crows. All of them million selling records, some multi-million selling,” he says.
“I have to admit, for the first two weeks I was a little intimidated by the place. Why was I, a Plymouth born St Budeaux boy, in sunny Los Angeles working with Joe Chiccarelli as my producer, with Roger Manning Jnr and Matt Chamberlain as part of my band, recording at one of the most legendary studios on the planet? I still don’t know, but I’ll be forever grateful.”
Written and recorded throughout the tail end of 2016, and spring of 2017, ‘Happy Accidents’ saw Jamie knuckle down in the prestigious Sunset Sound Studios in LA with producer Joe Chiccarelli, as well as keyboard player Roger Manning Jr (Jellyfish and Beck) and drummer Matt Chamberlain (Fiona Apple, Tori Amos) to produce what he and Ed Sheeran both reckon is the best work of his career thus far.
The title is taken from the first communications between Lawson and his now wife, when she wandered, by chance, in to his show at The Bedford (incidentally, the same venue where Lawson met Ed Sheeran for the first time), “hooray for happy accidents”.
The opening track on the album is ‘A Little Mercy’, which is described by Jamie as a warm, gospel feeling track. It was co-written with Simon Aldred aka Cherry Ghost, with backing vocals coming from The Arnold Singers, legendary vocalists who sing with James Taylor.
Another big song on the album is‘Sing To The River’, which is a poignant balled about Lawson’s father, who sadly died when the musician was just 19, which allowed him to finally put in to words the grief that overwhelmed him.
It’s been a whirlwind 18 months for the Plymouth-born musician, being the first signee to Ed Sheeran’s own label Gingerbread Man Records, releasing his #1, self-titled album to much critical acclaim, and joining One Direction as main support on their farewell tour in the autumn of 2015.
To round off his incredible success, Jamie was awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Song (Musically and Lyrically) in 2016. He has, to date, had 110 million Spotify streams, over 28 million YouTube views, and has sold over a million copies of his juggernaut, worldwide hit ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’.
Here’s the track-listing for his new album:
1. A Little Mercy
2. Can’t See Straight
3. Tell Me Again
4. Fall Into Me
5. Don’t Say You Don’t If Do
6. Miracle Of Love
7. Falling In Love
8. Time On My Hands
9. Sing To The River
10. He’s Reading Helena
11. Letter Never Sent
12. The Last Spark
13. Love Finds A Way