Home > Reviews > Album Reviews > Jamie T – Carry On the Grudge

Jamie T – Carry On the Grudge

Laura Lloyd

Triangle

After hearing Jamie T’s recent single, Zombie, on Radio 1 during a car ride, I was eager to get my hands on the new album. The single seemed mild for the London chap who is more at home making ditties about nights out, pulling birds and getting into scraps.

The album opens with Limits Lie, a soft electric guitar jam, joined by a mouth harmonica. To my surprise Mr. T actually has a mellow singing voice which is odd in comparison to his usual Cockney accented, foul mouthed tunes. The track is backed by a single guitar and the odd drum beat. It’s not a strong opening for an album, but it is a surprise as it seems Jamie T has grown up a lot since his Panic Prevention days. Though first single and debut of new material Don’t You Find already pointed us to this more mature, altogether musically different side to Jamie T back in July.

Contrastingly, third track Turn On The Light is quite soppy. Clearly it’s about a stereotypically special girl. It’s simple, again with a few guitar strums and a couple of hits on the drum. Unfortunately, it gets incredibly boring and after a minute of the song I found myself hitting skip.

Zombie is the stand out track on the whole album. It’s no surprise that this was chosen as a single. It’s the only song on the album that is in some way lively. It’s a brief reminder of who Jamie T is and what his music is all about. Keeping with the theme, The Prophet sounds like something Blur would put together. However the song tells a story about a girl, a fight and a night out, something that has been previous absent from the album; throw in a bit of bad language and its classic Jamie T.

This album, although lyrically great, is hit and miss. There are no crazy stories about living in London or lyrics that you can get stuck in your head for days. With the exception of two songs, the album is pretty sub-par and I was disappointed, I expected more exciting things from it. Unfortunately I don’t feel as though Mr. T delivered. I’ll certainly be sticking with my 2007 Jamie T playlist. If you’re open to quite a change of direction and don’t expect a Panic Prevention mk II, you may enjoy it more than I did.