From receiving the BBC Sound of and the Critic’s Choice Award at the Brits in 2016, Jack Garratt became a well-known name within the music industry in what felt like overnight. Along with the success of his debut album Phase many more albums were expected from him. However, when releasing this second album four years later Garratt opened up in an interview with Annie Mac where he stated that the pressure of it all got to him. After his achievements in 2016 he had written a full second album but scrapped it due to it not feeling right and so went away from the music industry to focus on his anxieties and the reasons why he makes music.
The beginning of 2020 went very well for Jack Garratt with the release of Love, Death and Dancing and the first track Time being Annie Mac’s hottest record. Divided into four discs with each one having its own feeling and emotion behind it the whole album comes together as the essential album for those raves in your kitchen.
Full of classic Jack Garratt beats, brass and bass by just listening to it you can really imagine him dancing around his studio and with the different elements of each song from the lyrics right down to the individual beats you can definitely enjoy it in the same way. This album is so full of emotion which Garratt has portrayed in just the right way with each song showing a different part but altogether showing the listeners why he loves making music. Although many have noticed that Love, Death and Dancing is very different to his first album, Phase, I feel that this second album is full of music which Garratt enjoys and one that is a reflection of him as a person.
The whole album, I feel, goes through a story of perhaps his time away from the music industry and his anxieties which became worse through this. The opening lyrics to the first record Time, “Why is it not enough to be fine? You're overthinking, in a rut, and terrified” open up about his feelings and through this whole album it shows the listeners what doubt and anxieties filled his mind. The last two discs expose Garratt’s vulnerability and openness more from the lack of dance rhythms, subsequently, makes the emotion more raw and real.
Love, Death and Dancing represents Jack Garratt in everything he is and certainly feels like his heart and soul have gone into making it. Although we had to wait a long time for this album, it was certainly worth the wait.
Written by Hannah Bowden
Comments