At 39, Jamie Lawson isn’t your average breakthrough artist. Then again, becoming the first signing to Ed Sheeran’s own record label isn’t an everyday occurrence either, so hopes are high for his debut release on the Gingerbread Man imprint.
While the well-trodden ground of singer- songwriter-dom isn’t exactly shattered here, the self- titled record does stretch the genre. Opener ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ – a hit on these shores three years ago – is a standard, albeit catchy, acoustic number. But the injection of brass in ‘Someone For Everyone’ signals that something different is afoot. Warm and engaging, the wind instruments are soon joined by strings on ‘The Only Conclusion’.The temptation to play it completely safe must have been great, but here Lawson ignores it admirably.
Tracks like ‘Still Yours’ and ‘All Is Beauty’ are archetypal acoustic ballads. There’s enough here, though, to suggest that Lawson’s hard slog has been worth it; while he’s probably not destined to follow his new boss to the heady heights of global superstardom just yet, this is an assured step forward.