For Jamie Grey, songwriting is a way of articulating issues which might otherwise go unspoken, providing personal catharsis for himself and emotional relatability for listeners. That open-hearted connection has powered recent singles such as ‘Unequivocal’ and ‘How Did We Get To Midnight?’, and now goes deeper as he shares his new single ‘Feather’. Listen HERE.
Summery yet sombre, ‘Feather’ contrasts its luminous pop sonics and bright energy with lyrical introspection to create a mood that’s instantly both appealing and anxiety ridden. Jamie’s lyrics explore the uncertainty of being uncertain as to life’s direction, and everyone feels that in some way, from jobs to relationships to simply looking for the thing that makes you want to get up each day. Yet the uplifting sound of the song is like wrapping up those doubts in a comforting warm embrace.
What I love about this song is its upbeat feel with a lyric like that. We added a kick drum to it, and it really elevated the acoustic guitar riff and almost made it feel like some sort of summer Ibiza chill vibe, which is different and exciting for me. I absolutely love the feeling in this song, the way the lyric contrasts with the beat and guitar to me is just magical.”
The emotions that Jamie explores in ‘Feather’ are like a thread which runs through his life story. Instead of embracing his passion for music, his early life was wrapped up in the corporate world – but seeing a busker outside his office gave him a daily nagging thought of, “What if?” Eventually it became too much to ignore and he quit his job to play around the pubs of Teeside. An unexpected opportunity to compete on ‘The Voice’ could’ve been the turning point, but he didn’t make it through the first round. Instead he vowed to do better and returned the following year, eventually making the top eight of the live shows. And that was the impetus for his solo career to get started.
Some might bemoan not having done that sooner, but Jamie is all about being grateful for what has happened since. And with millions of streams, Radio 2 and BBC Introducing airplay, and hit co-writes with James Arthur, he’s making up for lost time.
Continuing in that trajectory, Jamie will commence his one-man acoustic headline tour ‘Songs I Wrote’ in October. The dates are below and remaining tickets are available HERE.
OCTOBER
1st – Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
3rd – Dublin, Unitarian Church
28th – Newcastle, The Cluny
29th – Manchester, The Deaf Institute
30th – London, The Lower Third
NOVEMBER
1st – Bristol, The Louisiana
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