ALBUM REVIEW ::: Jay James Picton ‘Play It By Heart’

Last weekend, I stood in a field watching Olly Murs perform live to an eager crowd at V Festival. Despite his efforts, Murs failed to capture my attention and it seemed a lot of people – besides the 14 years old girls that has stood at the railings for 8 hours prior to Murs’  performance – felt the same. The only thing I could think of as ‘Thinking of You’ played out across the main stage was how different this case would be if Jay James Picton was performing instead.

I could be biased (but I know I’m not); after all, I met Jay 4 days earlier and was overwhelmed by how insanely talented, humble and down to Earth he is. But, I know for a fact that what Olly had failed to do, Jay would have smashed in seconds.

I saw Jay live at The Water Rats for the first time last week and within seconds, I was drawn speechless. The crowd went wild when Jay started playing and I walked away from the gig knowing that things would be flying for this guy in no time. With support from the likes of Booker T Jones, Roger Daltrey and John Legend, it’s obvious that Jay James Picton is ready to tear up the music industry like never before.

His debut album ‘Play It By Heart’ is definitely one of the best I’ve heard in a while. It features songs so catchy you’ll be singing them 2 weeks later, lyrics so honest it’s tricky not to relate to them and one heck of a beautiful voice.

It’s hard to pick a favourite song because the album is so on point with what the music industry completely needs right now and I can imagine every single song being played on the radio or being played live; worse still – there isn’t a bad song on the album either which makes it even more impossible to pick a favourite.

One thing I do love about the album is its versatility – I know for a fact that ‘Play It By Heart’ is an album for all ages, genders, social groups. There’s an authentic feel of the 50s vibe swinging around songs such as ‘You’re The Sea’, accompanied by a Wild West sense on songs such as ‘Another Man’. Don’t get me wrong, the album is contemporary as well; ‘Someone That’s Real’ is a feisty soul tune paired with a real ‘feeling good’ vibe and ‘Almost You’ could give James Blunt a run for his money when it comes to emotional ballads. The lyrics to ‘Long May They Roll’ leave me speechless and the album’s title track ‘Play It By Heart’ completely lives up to the hype surrounding this album.

There’s so much variety on ‘Play It By Heart’ which makes me certain that it’ll be loved by one and all. When you’ve made an album as flawless as this one, it’s without a doubt that you’ll have everyone thinking you could easily smash Olly Murs off the main stage at one of the UK’s biggest festivals.

If you like: James Morrison, John Mayer and Maverick Sabre.

Pre-order the album ‘Play It BY Heart’: http://amzn.to/MqFMpQ

Official Site ::: http://bit.ly/JayJamesPicton
YouTube ::: http://bit.ly/JayJamesPictonYoutube
Twitter ::: http://bit.ly/JayJamesPictonTwitter

Written by Vicky Gottschalk

Website ::: www.victoria-hannah.blogspot.com
Twitter ::: @Victoria_Hannah