Jamie T Signs To Epitaph In the US, "Carry On The Grudge" Out Sept 30
British solo artist JAMIE T has signed to Epitaph Records in the US and will release his new album Carry On The Grudge digitally on September 30. Carry On The Grudge will be released on September 29 on Virgin Records in the UK.
The Wimbledon, South West London artist has released two albums Panic Prevention (a Mercury Prize nominated album) in 2007 and Kings & Queens in 2009. Five years have passed since Kings & Queens reached No. 2 in the UK charts, inspiring the critics to anoint the then-24-year-old Jamie "a rare cocksure talent" by the BBC and a "national institution" according to NME.
During the stretch, the punk-inspired singer-songwriter (born Jamie Alexander Treays) went travelling on his own in America on an isolated but essential voyage of self-discovery. Perhaps this is why Carry On The Grudge contains a pensive air of personal sadness and longing. Jamie T's trademark use of torrent rhymes, both sung and rapped are dispatched with a novelist’s eye for visual detail and character quirk on Carry On The Grudge. Words fit snugly into melody, there are rattling post-Clash rhythms, with irreverent tips of the hat to Prince Buster, Madness and The Who.
"It’s called 'Carry On The Grudge' because it’s vaguely about growing into your own person. You’re brought up with all these things people give you, whether it be an angry streak or casual racism or whatever… all these things that aren’t really yours. Having toured from the age of 18 until 24, I didn’t go through a lot of the normal things young people go through. I grew up quickly. I had to. So when I had time to take stock… it scared the shit out of me, really."
Watch the Reading Festival audience turn Jamie T's performance of "Don’t You Find" into a 6000 person sing-along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i62ckPfywg8. According to NME, Jamie T is one of the "most original, exciting musicians of the last decade," giving his recent performance at The Dome in London a 10 star review.
Carry On The Grudge is up for digital pre-order at http://found.ee/carryonthegrudge. The tracks "Don't You Find" and "Zombie" are available as instant downloads for those who purchase the album. Details on Jamie T's plans to tour the US are forthcoming.