James Lawson - The Pull of The Moon
Release Date: May 24th 2010
Label: Lookout Mountain Records
Format: 1CD and Digital Download
Cat #: LOOKCD01
DEBUT ALBUM SIGNALS ARRIVAL OF SPECIAL SONGWRITING TALENT
So why give your time and attention to Jamie Lawson? It’s not as if there’s any obvious shortage of young singer-songwriters right now. Far from it. Wherever you turn, there’s yet another fresh-faced hopeful coming at you with a guitar and a claim on the future. But even in a crowded marketplace there will always be room for an artist who has what it takes to be better than the rest. And if you love music and have a heart and a pair of ears, you’ll recognise within the space of just one song that here is exactly that sort of someone.
Influenced by the likes of Crowded House, R.E.M & Leonard Cohen , alongside the books of John Irvings and the poetry of Ian Hamilton, Jamie Lawson’s debut album, ‘The Pull of The Moon’, features 12 remarkable songs that ruminate on the subjects of hope and hopeless despair (‘The Last Time’) , beating the odds to overcome adversity (‘Seven’), break-ups (‘I’m Gonna Love You’ & ‘Oh, What A Foolish Me’), murder (‘A Darkness’), the similarities of the music industry and prostitution (‘…But Love Me’) the nostalgia of home (‘North Shore’) and our own destinies (Some Ships) .
Currently residing on the north coast of Cornwall, Jamie spends most of the year living in a caravan overlooking the sea. “I like the freedom it provides. There aren’t as many of the distractions of modern life, so I have the space to write songs. I’m not Bon Iver, though!”
Before settling in Cornwall, Jamie spent two years working and playing in the clubs of Ireland, fully immersing himself in the music scene and performing alongside the likes of Mundy, The Four of Us, Glen Hansard of The Swell Season, Tom Baxter and Gemma Hayes. Three tracks on ‘The Pull of The Moon’ were written during this inspirational time in Ireland, with love being the common themes on ‘This is Love’, ‘Real Thing’, ‘Love You All The Same’.
Born and raised in Plymouth in what was he says a resolutely non-musical household, Jamie asked for and received a guitar when he was 8-years-old. Experimenting with covers band while at school, it was only when Jamie was 17 that he started to discover his own voice - and that voice proved to be something very special indeed. No-one who has heard him sing live would disagree (and in addition to his own regular schedule of gigging, he has played with artists including The Frames, Martha Wainwright and Damien Rice, as well as having been chosen as opening act for outdoor gigs by both Van Morrison and Katie Melua). Even-keeled, even undemonstrative offstage, he comes alive in front of an audience and in the service of his songs. “American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel has been a big influence, in the sense that he sings with his whole body and puts so much into his performance. The difference is that my voice is sweeter and more pure.”
It is however just as passionate. And it’s no coincidence that the ‘p’ word should have cropped up again, for it is central to why Jamie Lawson is special. He puts an inordinate amount of that particular and unfakeable commodity into each performance and has done so since the fledgling days of his career. “I remember taking home the first proper demo I ever recorded and being really disappointed by it,” he recalls. “Listening to it with me my Dad said, ‘Well, that’s because you’re not singing on that (recording) the way that you do when you’re upstairs in your room.’ And he was right. It was all about the passion or, in that case, the lack of it. I realised I had to sing in front of others the way I did when on my own.”
Jamie Lawson is not just a singer but an exceptionally blessed and affecting one, whether with his regular band or in a solo and acoustic setting. His voice and songs have proven to work equally beautifully and well, whether in a tiny indoor venue like London’s 12 Bar Club or outdoors before 10,000 people. “And the simple fact is that I love to sing,” he says. “I love the intimacy of live performance. I love drawing people into my mood. I love bringing them to where I am.” Jamie’s forthcoming single, ‘The Last Time’ (released on April 19th), is just a taster for his debut album, and shows exactly how good he is at doing just that.