Whether you consider Jamie Cullum\u2019s The Pursuit<\/i>, his fourth album, a return to form depends on just where you stand on the British jazz-pop pianist. There\u2019s no denying his talent\u2014both as a musician and a songwriter\u2014but for every bit of creative brilliance he\u2019s produced, it\u2019s usually been accompanied by one or more missteps. <\/p>\n
Twenty Something<\/i> was the album that catapulted him to fame (of sorts)\u2014and it was an intriguing, if haphazard, collection of tracks. Only a few originals were present: instead he decided to offer his own take on classics such as \u201cLover, You Should Have Come Over,\u201d \u201cI Get A Kick Out Of You\u201d and \u201cHigh and Dry.\u201d As you\u2019d expect, the results were somewhat mixed: a friend expressed hatred for the man for daring to \u201cbutcher\u201d Radiohead. <\/p>\n
Then came Catching Tales<\/i>. While it still contained covers, the majority of material was from Cullum and, once again, the result was a patchy album. It wasn\u2019t as commercially successful as its predecessor, but it did put Cullum\u2019s immense potential as a songwriter on display. <\/p>\n
Cullum seemed unsure of just where he fitted in the music industry\u2014and if this album is the result of his search, it was worth the effort, because The Pursuit<\/i> finds Cullum producing the best material of his career to date. The balance, for once, is just right: eight of the twelve tracks are Cullum\u2019s own, so the album is not based on whether his interpretations are hit or miss. <\/p>\n
Opening with Cole Porter\u2019s \u201cJust One Of Those Things,\u201d early signs are this is Cullum back to his roots\u2014the musical experimentation of Catching Tales<\/i> has been dumped, with the more conventional jazz big-band sound the backdrop for his typically exemplary piano work.<\/p>\n
On this album Cullum\u2019s originals seem to be leaning away from the jazz-tinges he infuses his covers with. \u201cI\u2019m All Over It,\u201d a radio-friendly kiss off, is as close to pop as anything Cullum has produced. It certainly contains an infectious hook as he tries to convince himself that he\u2019s \u201call over it now.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t say how glad I am about that,\u201d he croons, with his trademark playful rasp to his voice. <\/p>\n
\u201cMixtape\u201d is another highlight. Strategically placed halfway through, it gives the album a much needed lift with its somewhat urgent, driving beat. Some have accused Cullum of being smug in the past (the New York Times<\/i> labelled him an \u201cunself-conscious lout\u201d) and a glimmer of that shines through here: \u201cI\u2019ll make a mixtape that will charm you into bed,\u201d he vows. That must be some mixtape. <\/p>\n
As ever, it\u2019s the covers that will divide opinion. Rihanna\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Stop The Music\u201d is stripped back with the help of brushes on the snare and an acoustic bass. Having listened to it without looking at the track listing, I was bewildered for a few seconds by what I was hearing. I like the jazzed-up version, complete with mid-song solo, but those partial to the Rihanna original may not be so kind to Cullum.<\/p>\n
His treatment of \u201cNot While I\u2019m Around\u201d from Stephen Sondheim\u2019s Sweeney Todd<\/i> is less controversial. Again it has the jazz trio feel to it, though it feels much less of a radical departure from the original\u2014and the piano arrangement adds a melodic beauty to the song not present in Broadway version. <\/p>\n
Jamie Cullum is one of those artists you\u2019re either going to love or hate\u2014though I can understand the arguments of both camps. Put it this way: if you\u2019re not feeling any sort of admiration for the man after listening to The Pursuit<\/i>, I don\u2019t think you ever will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":30451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8625],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-42115","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jamie-cullum","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42115"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42115"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}