Jake Bugg: Shangri-La – Album Review

     

Released	18 November 2013
Recorded	2013 at Shangri-La,Malibu, California, U.S.
Genre	Indie rock
Label	Mercury (UK), Island (U.S.)
Producer	Rick Rubin Rating

Shangri-La is the second studio album by the English indie rock artist Jake Bugg. Released on November 18th 2013, the album was produced by Rick Rubin, which was then named after his very important studio in Malibu, California where the recording of this album took place.

Two years after his very first debut album arrived, following  tales of drugs and violence growing up on a Nottingham council estate, the 19 year old finds himself in a completely new surrounding and setting as this is highlighted by his album art work. Comparing the two, this new and improved Bugg, shows the bright future, with a long shot of his whole body, strong and confident, whereas with his first self titled album, gives us a more close, intimate saddened feel.

Following the first single release of "What Doesn't Kill You" in late September, gave us a short taste of what we would expect to find on his improved album, the high beats and fast lyrical motion of his words, imminently tells us a whole new story, with its live, catchy rhythm and and various solo tunes, Jake Bugg has adapted a whole new mood of positivity and brightness, shocking the audiences at first on such a change, but at the same time feeling a whole new liking to the song. Just a few months after the second release of " Slumville Sunrise" in October, a little closer to the release date, supported Bugg's new themes further as an additional music video gave a nostalgic feel to the dead 1963 era, as it felt familiar and had a degree of novelty, pushing forward a new, fresh intake into previous music.

Drawing in the audiences with its repetitive strums of a catchy guitar riff, Bugg carries on the fast lyrical speed, matching the head bobbing movement witch you will find, makes you want to move. The music video as well replicates this olden theme, however putting a modern twist, by using his past upbringing of  a "chavy council estate environment" Jake Bugg acts as a thief in robbing a ring for his girlfriend, which he is then chased around, by the use of badly edited green-screening, giving it an authentic, stereotypical music video feel for that era, however adapting this to a postmodern audiences, Bugg has then made it into a short film style of video, with the ending to include intertextuality and humorous  a modern audiences would find funny.

Jake Bugg's album takes on popular music in which america was more fond of around the time, yet bringing his short snappy songs with a British culture, Bugg has streamlines an alternative rock production, making Shangri-La sound more Brit pop than the mainstream 90s indie sub genres.

However not all songs in his album are fast paced and lively, as we get to the third song, "Me and You" still takes on the country theme, however it has slowed down slightly to settle for a more serious and emotional topic in which was previously explored, here we get a sense of the previous Bugg, infused with his new and improved attitude. Keeping in touch with his serious tales, the lyrics on "Seen It All" genuinely sounds like a teenager seeing another get stabbed, again adapted from the verité themed story. 

As well as making beautiful sounding music at such a young age, Jake Bugg has really seen it all, with just 19 years of age, he has been though life long experiences in which he projects into his songs stating "There is a lot of pain out there- the world is a cold place" He explores his own previous experiences into songs which mean more than the face value of them.

In the next few songs in the album, Bugg follows these same themed, slowed down songs as he takes it to the slowest pace with "Song About Love" striking as a young poetic image with his ambitious themes and lyrical photographs, he pretenses the hard life of the feral youth of broken Britain's and how true life real is. 

My own personal view on Jake Bugg is that hes is a great mix of talent, constantly producing modern rhythmatic indie music, relating to current and past themes of Britain in which a little sense of History is needed to understand deeper, however he is "just another lad writing tunes" yet the way in which he does makes him not just another lad. Another main reason in why I only gave it three stars is that it's not as good as the first one, always comparing albums to the previous one, Jake's first debut won me over in an instant, whilst this one had made me listen to it a few times before I got my head round it. This maybe because of his sudden, drastic change in tempo and pitch of the upbeat themes and fast moving words, it was hard to keep up with and follow, whilst his previous felt more relatbale and down to earth.

Bringing us back to his previous work, "Pine Trees" proves to show a sense of reminiscence of "Broken", showing that Bugg still has it in him to sing about these simple, yet effective songs that touch us deeply in a sweet short acoustic feel presented with his raw voice. Positioned near the end of the album, Bugg has used this to his advantage, taking you to a gap of thinking space, allowing the song to flow through in entirety before the last two, more saddened songs set in before picking you up back to your feet.

The album overall does contain some strong, highlighted points however the new atmosphere it brings is hard to compete with the previous one, thus making it weak, all in all, Jake Bugg has shown a clear progression as an artist who is full of surprises, keeping us on our toes for the next release.