Jamie Cullum - The Pursuit
Every few years an album, or artist, comes along that even those who carry the biggest hipster-card, admit is a guilty pleasure.
Sure, the artist may be incredibly popular, sell millions of albums and sell-out arenas around the world; but for those who aren’t moved by the waves of popular music, these “cross-over” artists or albums pick up the critical cred that carries weight with the cultural elite. Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5, anyone?
On March 2, 2010 Jamie Cullum will release his latest album, The Pursuit, in the US. For Cullum, a Golden Globe nominee for best song for the movie ‘Gran Torino’, his fifth album features eight original songs and several covers, including songs by Cole Porter, Stephen Sandheim and “Don’t Stop The Music” which was made famous by Rhianna.
For someone with less than a casual knowledge of his work, The Pursuit, was a surprisingly sharp album. Cullum’s vocals are effortless and his piano-playing will be an added plus, especially for fans of Ben Folds. Like Harry Connick Jr., before him, Cullum’s take on the classics are contemporary, but remain mostly true to the originals.
On his original songs, the layered and beat-driven “We Run Things” diverges from his jazz/standards style – a contrast that is especially apparent given the transition from the previous song on the album, the light and vocal-centric “I Think, I Love”.
His interpretation of “Don’t Stop The Music” is strong, although it walks the fine line of gentrification that genre-jumping covers often do.
The album’s final track, the synth-driven “Music Is Through” is my personal favorite, and one that might be most adaptable for risk-reward deejay’s looking to challenge their conventional set-lists with a song by an artist not considered worthy of a late-night dance floor.
Front-to-back, it’s a solid effort by an establish artist who’s market typically runs outside the sight-lines of music fans obsessed with the overly obscure and frequently bearded.
With that being said, The Pursuit, is positioned to be a 2010 “cross-over” album. And that’s not a bad thing.
[...] you are unfamiliar with Cullum’s work, here’s our recent review of his album, The Pursuit. He’s an artist worth your attention, regardless of your musical [...]