Jeremy Jay A Place Where We Could Go by: Liam Tracey Thu:28-Aug-08 Label: K Year: 2008 WB rating 30 out of 100

So what if Jeremy Jay’s quirky songwriting might gain him praise for his “simplistic” approach? It doesn’t mean a whole lot when additions to A Place Where We Could Go sound like his personal renditions of ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ (hear ‘Heavenly Creatures’).

There’ll be no jumping on the bandwagon for this review. Jeremy Jay has, in fact, very few similarities to Buddy Holly, and if Peter Pan were to be somehow miraculously transformed into audio, A Place would not even come close to matching the liveliness that comparison provokes. Jay’s 50s Hollywood inspiration on this debut album certainly does conjure memories of a certain vintage, but his stripped-back approach doesn’t quite cut it when comparing him to the bigger names of the past. The closest, most direct comparison is found in the melody of ‘While the City Sleeps’ – Jay’s potential saving grace on the album – which is reminiscent of the Everly Brothers. Problematically though, the constant and blatant avoidance of the track’s intricacy elsewhere on the album makes it hard to enjoy even the brightest moments.

Trying to alternate between heavy-tempo piano tracks and waltz-like ballads, it’s hard to feel affected by more than one or two tracks. Contrast two supposedly different styles from the album, the retro ‘Beautiful Rebel’ and typical slow dance ‘A Place Where We Could Go’, and it becomes sadly apparent that despite the fact Jay is attempting different instrumentations, his dulcet vocals meld the two into sounding far too similar. The semi-sung, semi-spoken style seems quirky on ‘Heavenly Creatures’ but quickly dies as the album progresses – most unfortunate considering the vocal style is Jay’s drawcard and difference to the plethora of singer songwriters lingering about.

The predecessor to A Place…, the Airwalker EP, seems almost like a disc of false advertising as his creativity with synth and electronic elements do not spill over into the long-player. Call it a step backwards if you will. Jay has seemingly unevolved his own sound in an attempt to be artistically vintage. With an introduction, ‘Nite Nite’, that seems a complete waste of space, and reverting to the most basic instrumental elements of guitar, piano and drums elsewhere, the follow up to Airwalker is a let down.

Jeremy Jay has done himself a disservice with this debut album, considering his earlier EP was far more loveable. There will surely be many who appreciate his simple approach to instrumentation and bizarre approach to vocals, but by no token does it make Jay the next great thing. There are countless solo singer-songwriters competing to be the top dog and in that struggle it seems that Jeremy Jay doesn’t make the cut.