Overanalysing

Jake Bugg's new single is already shaping up to be among my Records of the Year - not bad going considering we're only 15 days in. Every time I've heard it it's caught me unawares. It makes me happy and sad at the same time if that makes sense. It's bouncy and full of hope, yet I fear that if it were a book or a film it wouldn't end well. Am I reading too much into this? I don't know. I probably need to get out more; wait, no. Fuck.

Jake Bugg - All I Need (2021)

Live Bugg

Scott Bugg, formerly of the Swines and now front man of the Vital Few, is getting loads of radio play at the moment. That's what happens when you write instantly memorable songs - it's a sure fire way to get playlisted; his younger cousin plows a similar furrow. If he doesn't get a similar lucky break then it certainly won't be for the lack of trying.

I'm hoping to catch Scott on Saturday night in town supporting the Flavells. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't play Taxman; not the only Fabs reference in this contagious new Beatle-esque song of his.

Scott Bugg and the Vital Few: Taxman

Love, Hope and Misery

I've mentioned here before just how obscenely talented Jake Bugg is.
'Love, Hope and Misery' is his tribute to Bill Withers (think 'Ain't No Sunshine') and Robert Cray ('Right Next Door') all rolled into one. That's what I think anyway. But what do I know?
A soundtrack to a breakup if ever I heard one; probably.

Broken

The worrying thing about Jake Bugg is not how good he is - the lad is extremely gifted. Or, indeed, how young he is - he’s still only 21. No, what frightens me most is just how good he will be in, I don’t know, five years time. As a youth growing up in Nottingham, and still at school, he started to get a few pub gigs playing covers to pissed up punters on a Saturday night. Figuring out that writing your own songs is not a cross between rocket science and brain surgery he started dropping his own material in to his set. And what sensational material it is. He wrote Broken when he was just 18. A more emotionally charged song you'll be hard pushed to find. Trust me.

Here's a version with just Jake and his guitar:

And here's a version recorded at The Royal Albert Hall. With a choir. The boy from Clifton done good.