Male solo acts nowadays tend not to merely gently strum an acoustic guitar and Jamie Button is no exception.
Single ‘Flashbang’ came close to topping the iTunes singer/songwriter charts and his debut album should do likewise.
Contemporaries range from Sam Fender and Jake Bugg all the way to George Ezra and Ed Sheeran, but stirring opener ‘The Repertoire’ is at the more credible end of the scale, its pop hook powered by punk guitar.
‘Friends Like You’ similarly starts with a raucous intro before settling into a radio-ready anthem, while ‘Told You Things’ is slower, its orchestral sweeps offering a necessary respite from the onslaught of big hooks and towering choruses.
However, he’s soon back to what he does best, with ‘Icons’ earworm chorus and ‘Strange Saints’ stomping beat.
Finally, ’Storyboard’ is a gentler closer and a reflective end to a debut that shows great promise and surely a sign of greater things to come.
This article originally appeared in the Hartlepool Mail.