Who remembers MySpace?! It helped a lot of struggling artists find an audience and sparked an amazing era for indie music. Even I got signed through it.
Anyway, during one of House of Tracks’ many reincarnations (in 2008 I think it was), I found Jack Robert Hardman‘s MySpace page, by happy accident. His track Chocolate Eyes instantly put a smile on my face and it had the same effect on everyone I played it to also. I remember thinking how humble, home recorded and lo-fi it sounded. It’s the kind of music that you remember finding. Eager to spread the word whilst capturing the spirit of discovery; I made his charming tune available for free download to anyone smart enough to complete our music themed online crossword.
Four years on and Jack has released his debut album earlier this month. It’s a very well crafted piece of work that reminds me (a little) of Owl City, probably because of the subtle use of voice correction software applied to a falsetto voice. His more recent songs like Lights of London and Tree of Life are evidence that his sound has matured as he experiments with electonica and more complex chord progressions.
Sorry to George is a great song placed half way through the album. Very clever, catchy and like no other music around at the moment. It is a great contrast to Jack’s early song Chocolate Eyes. Famous and Separation illustrate further contrast as the texture reduces to just vocal and guitar/banjo, proving that Jack can sing well without leaning on post production.
Unlike a lot of the weird stuff we talk about on here, Jack Robert Hardman is very listenable and radio friendly. He has been played by the best DJ’s on Radio 1, 6 Music and XFM but I would love for him to get play listed. He definitely deserves it.
Review by David Apple.
