TOM ODELL – Long Way Down
01. Grow Old With Me
02. Hold Me
03. Another Love
04. I Know
05. Sense
06. Can’t Pretend
07. Till I Lost
08. Supposed To Be
09. Long Way Down
10. Sirens
Who is this 22-year-old guy born in Chinester, who started writing songs with 13, got noticed first after performing in Pubs in Brighton and who
managed to get a contract with a fantastic label after just four gigs in London? It is the same guy who won the BRITs Critics Choice award 2013 and the same guy who is going to support THE ROLLING STONES this summer – it is TOM ODELL. And good news – his debut album Long Way Down is going to be released on 21 June. TOM ODELL said about the record “I hope the album feels human and real and that there are some flaws – because the flaws help make it what it is. Really, I’d love to live in a time when music felt uncontrived and imperfect and gave people a real sense of elevation. When it’s sad I want it to be really sad. When it’s happy I want it to feel euphoric…I suppose I want the record to express the heightened feelings and emotions we all get in our lives.” So does he manage to create a sense of elevation and to convey feelings in a honest way that is unusual in our time, or did his wish fail and he is just another artist hyped from the press without a good reason?
What definitely distinguishes TOM ODELL from others is that he writes touching but simple, purist piano driven songs and none of his songs are overloaded with different sounds – sometimes less is more. If you are familiar with some of his songs you might took note of his tender but powerful vocal style and his charmingly sensitive voice. It appears in all of the ten songs of Long Way Down. Also quite interesting are the backing vocals in the songs, which sometimes sound a bit like gospel. The main topics TOM ODELL sings about are love and broken hearts, and for a guy in his age he does it quite authentically. It is extremely strikingly that the best and most unique songs of the record are the saddest and packed with a lot of pain.
The real highlights of the record are difficult to rate. Of course not every song is totally stunning but all of them have their own magic. On the one hand we have the sad and heartbreaking but powerful songs like Another Love or Sense and on the other hand we have songs that are hopeful and enthusiastic songs packed with love like Hold Me, Can’t Pretend and Grow Old with me. Supposed To Be is a really special track that touches heart and soul with the lyrics “Love always is unkind”- a song about understanding and accepting sad situations, just the way it is.
Undeniably the hype around TOM ODELL is justified. There are a few fillers on the record that might leave you unimpressed at first listen but he doubtless kind of reached his goal to record something to express feelings and emotions we all get in our lives. He is not an artist who just makes music and writes songs because he’s good at it, it is his way to express himself, to be emotional and to share his thoughts with the rest of the world and that’s how we want real passionate musicians to be.