Why so shocked?

The recent spate of new singer-songwriters has made it somewhat difficult for newcomers to be seen as original. It’s obviously hard to stand-out in a world where Lady Gaga is wearing meat dresses and hanging herself onstage but occassionaly the clouds of sameness clear and something special peeks through. Enter Plymouth-born singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson. Lawson is set to release his debut album The Pull of The Moon, but first he releases debut EP The Real Thing this month to whet musical appetites.

2010 has already been an incredibly successful year for Lawson having worked with artists like The Frames, Damien Rice and Martha Wainwright and acted as gig-opener for Katie Melua and Van Morrison and with his unusually affecting voice he looks set to make it big. Lawson admits a variety of influences such as Crowded House, REM and Leonard Cohen and these influences emerge as well-hidden gems throughout his tracks. His work with other artists is also evident as having influenced him as his vocals often touch upon the gravel-paved tenderness of Frames frontman Glen Hansard, and a male version of the insecure power of Martha Wainwright.
 

The Real Thing EP opens with its title track Real Thing. Immediately we are surrendered to soulful lilting stringed harmony. Real Thing is a subtle track which makes no demands of the listener but remains profoundly affecting. In this first track alone Lawson shows his unique ability to create beautiful love songs that transcend the genre and have a haunted edge that is never quite revealed to the audience. Lawson’s true genius emerges as his use of subtlety. On this track we are introduced to the uniquely frail quality of his voice, he never fails to hit a note perfectly, but somehow he infuses each with a touch of vulnerability. It is a wonderful opener to a gorgeous EP.

Second track This is Love opens with an arpeggiated Joshua Radin-style melody which Lawson makes his own with his unique vocal timbre. Here is a intensely romantic track that somehow evades the generic wasteland of becoming fondue. Westlife it is not. The track builds in intent until it reaches breaking track showing the artists ability to make a track more than a simple song. It is an experience.
 

The only obtuse track on the record is oddly enough the stand-out track. I’m Gonna Love You is a break-up song with a maudlin twist and acts as a buffer between the first and second halves of the EP. The track is beautifully simple from lyrics to melody but is unfortunately out of sync with the rest of the record. In the larger scheme of the record the track is unable to reach its true potential as it touches upon Hansard's work on Once.

The Touch of Your Hand is a track which, as the title suggests, grabs you and refuses to release. It is a track which is unique here in that it is one of few which leaves behind Lawson’s patented simplicity and enters into the realm of the epic in the way that it affects the listener. EP closer Some Ships signals a change in sound for Lawson as it has a more folk-orientated feel. It is the perfect choice for a final track as it leaves us wondering what else Lawson can come up with.

The Real Thing is a beautiful and affectingly simple EP that leaves the listener craving more from the artist. Thankfully the EP acts as a prequel to the 12 track-heavy debut album The Pull of The Moon which, if this record is anything to go by, is set to be a wonderful experience. If you can’t wait until then you can check Jamie Lawson out in action on his Irish tour.

Ciara O’Brien