‘I made a decision on this record to limit the more aggressive edges of my music, and as a consequence I think the sound is more accessible, but that’s not why I did it—I did it because happy, upbeat, indie guitar music can be really great if it’s done right, with passion and honesty, and I wanted to make a record that sounds like that. A lot of my favorite albums sound like that.”’I made a decision on this record to limit the more aggressive edges of my music, and as a consequence I think the sound is more accessible, but that’s not why I did it—I did it because happy, upbeat, indie guitar music can be really great if it’s done right, with passion and honesty, and I wanted to make a record that sounds like that. A lot of my favorite albums sound like that.’
Jamie Lenman’s latest solo album is the light following the dark of the extremely heavy ‘King of Clubs’ and finds him embracing his love of the kind of pop hooks that serve Weezer and Queen so well while also offering nods to troubadours including Gemma Hayes and Pete Yorn. ‘This Is All There Is’, the opening track, finds him in familiar territory with grunge-laden riffs that reminded us of his contemporaries Hell is for Heroes while he ponders about others’ beliefs: ‘You really think there’s a heaven and hell, well, maybe there’s a planet Krypton as well?’ This continues through recent single – and instant sing-along – ‘Talk Hard’, which has some festival-friendly handclap fills in the drumming – and gorgeous ‘Hospital Tree’. This Christmas-tinged song finds Jamie celebrating the efforts of NHS workers across the country and paying tribute that, despite the pressures, they still have time to put up decorations and how tinsel crowns can help make things a little better: ‘Anything you ever need, I’ll come running.’
”Lena Don’t Leave Me’ is an unashamedly romantic celebration of Jamie’s love for his wife (‘My best friend and bride’) and how much she means to him – ”Lena Don’t Leave Me’ is an unashamedly romantic celebration of Jamie’s love for his wife (‘My best friend and bride’) and how much she means to him – ‘That’s my girl, that’s my world, that’s my moon and sun’ – and how without her, he’d feel incomplete – all delivered against a backdrop of infectious and enthusiastic Cheap Trick-style hooks. Things slow down for both ‘My Anchor’ and ‘Bad Friend’, the latter of which finds Jamie examining the traits of a toxic friendship: ‘Whatever you feel, I just don’t care’. We hear some elements of Graham Coxon’s guitarwork throughout the record, as well as Jamie’s old band Reuben, and ‘Song On My Tongue’ appears to blend both as he talks about struggling to blend with someone who wanted to be a friend: ‘There’s something abou you that I don’t click with and I don’t trust’.
The album draws to a triumphant and anthemic end with ‘War of Doubt’, although the lyrics again tackle the issues of anxiety and mental health with aplomb. It may be called ‘The Atheist’, but this is a record you can believe in.