Jeremy Jay Makes A Splash

There are some aspects of the whole 80's revival that I find fascinatingly cool. It's awesome to know that while so many artists are focused on new wave there's a small group of artists who have found solace in the indie pop of the same period of time. For every Duran Duran out there there was a Monochrome Set and it's awesome to know that there are artists out there who find these groups exciting and intriguing twenty years after their sell by date. Groups like Magic Bullets and Jeremy Jay have fallen in love with the jangle, the drama, and the swoon of classic British indie and it's refreshing to know that at least for now that sound will carry on.

London's Jeremy Jay not only has fallen love with classic British indie, he's doing his best to bring back. Sounding like a Smithsian/Felt-like crossover, Jay's passionate vocals and dramatic croon haunt his latest album, Splash in all the best ways. Filled with a brilliant collection of songs that are ambitious, simple, and loaded with enough coos, sighs, dreams, and ragged guitars Splash is fabulously entertaining. This is an album rooted in tradition and classicism but freshened up and dressed for modern times. Splash is a record with conviction, honesty, purity, and an eloquence that you just don't hear anymore and I think that's what makes this record as good as it is.

Putting on his best Lawrence vs. Morrissey voice, Jeremy Jay sounds as if he's a keen observer of London life and the ambition that it takes to live there. His unique voice steers each of the songs onwards and upwards and allows his lyrical literacy to take center court. Jeremy Jay asks himself, "Why Is This Feeling So Strong?," and it's a question that's left unanswered by the time the record finished. In fact, you're left pondering whether this record is so strong because of the fact that is in touch with the past or is it because Jeremy Jay's croon sounds so unique in today's modern musical landscape. Whatever the reason, Splash, is a fantastic record put together by a young ingénue who is in fascinated not only by the city he calls home but his youth, mortality, and a search for love. Splashis yet another fine example of just how good the 80's actually were without actually being from the 80's. It's the kind of record that makes me think that revivalism has never sounded so enthusiastically cool.