Today is one of the biggest days Nottingham’s music scene has ever seen. Eighteen year old Jake Bugg from Clifton’s selftitled debut album is released and it has shot straight past Mumford & Sons, Leona Lewis and Calvin Harris to number one on the first day of sales.  Even if he doesn’t stay there come Sunday, anything in the top 10 would be an unbelievable feat given his relatively recent emergence, his age -  and, given that he plays a guitar and has no gimmicks, and no synths and no backing track.

It’s been a whirlwind journey; 2 years ago, a shy 16 year old walked into BBC Nottingham to play his first ever session with Dean Jackson - this week he is looking at a potential number one album. Before his recent European dates with Michael Kiwanuka, Jake had never even left the UK and now he will be celebrating his chart position next week on tour in America with Noel Gallagher and Snow Patrol. 

Noel Gallagher is just one of the iconic names who are fans of the 18 year old. Something about his honesty and grittiness in songwriting has really struck a chord with fans young and old who have been longing for something new from guitar music. He is often compared with the likes of Oasis and Bob Dylan but Jake actually cites his main influences as old country and blues artists like Donnovan and Maclean – (who he amusingly admitted he first heard on The Simpsons). It’s not the most usual musical taste for a 16 year old from an estate in Nottingham but he really isn't your normal artist.

The album starts with Lightning Bolt, a track that solidified Jake’s emerging reputation when it was played over the build up and conclusion to the Olympic 100 metre final. It was a sensible move putting this track first as it will be probably his most broadly recognisable track (given that 2 billion people worldwide watched Bolt claim the Gold). The latest single Two Fingers follows this and I have to admit, having heard these tracks live and in demo version - I initially thought they were slightly overproduced. On second listen though, I think this is just because they we’re different to what I knew, and the songs still shine through.    

The album goes from strength to strength, I don’t think there is a single weak track. The second half of the album shows a new side to his songwriting which I love and which are just years ahead of his time. The Ballad of Mr Jones and Slide are two of the best for me and although I hate to liken an artist’s new music to something old - they remind me so much of old Oasis and even The Verve. Someone Told Me is my favourite of Jake’s older tracks, something about this track makes me feel so nostalgic and on a personal level has sort of been the soundtrack to a difficult period for me.

  

I was watching back through Jake’s sessions at BBC Nottingham on the Beat recently and realised that you can basically watch him growing up, becoming less shy and improving musically with every session. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Dean and the Beat over the last year and see firsthand a small portion of this fascinating development.  I remember watching him at Y Not Festival this summer and thinking if this guy isn’t huge, something’s seriously wrong with the UK music scene.

This album for me defines so much about what I love about Nottingham – there is a sort of romantic doggedness which I haven’t felt in any other city or indeed any other artist. Jake is the first artist in probably 4 or 5 years who has genuinely made me want to get my guitar out again. In a time of electronic music and guitar music decline, I don’t think I can pay a higher compliment than that.

Jesse 

@jessefkhoward

You can stream the full album here & buy it here

You can also catch Jake live on his UK tour this November here