Staying At Tamara's- George Ezra Review

Image result for staying at tamarasGeorge Ezra exploded into the world's musical consciousness in 2014 with an international platinum hit in Budapest, a second top ten hit in the UK and a number one album across the world. He came back sometime last year with Don't Matter Now, a flop compared to the number two UK hit in the second single, Paradise, and the the number one UK album that I'm about to review. The album starts with a duo of familiar singles, showcasing the gently catchy style George Ezra is famous for. Pretty Shining People is a bit of a standout, talking about George Ezra's anxiety about the future, and being stuck in the past, which is mirrored in his music. It seems that throughout the album his lyrics could be from any time since 1930, with very little hint of the 21st century. The instrumentals also all seem like pop instrumentals from the postwar era, but with the occasional electronic beat and frill added in by the producer to try to turn George Ezra into more of a modern Chainsmokers type pop singer instead of the older style he's fond of. Overall, the instrumentals are a placing mix of mainly real instruments, but sometimes he dips into an almost Coldplay like keyboard zone. The lyrics, too are pleasant an catchy, with not a tremendous substance but flow and meaning. The standouts would be the excellent folk-pop craftsmanship of Paradise and Get Away and the interesting folksy take on a beach song that is Shotgun, but also the surprisingly mopey (for the artist trying to "make happy cool again") Only A Human, which is a bit boring. Some of the tracks get too nice and a tad boring, and the mixing doesn't really showcase the well-designed arrangement of instruments as well as it should. The features by female artists First Aid Kit and Florrie (on the last track, not credited) are good for the songs, but not entirely necessary. George Ezra will be popular into the future, and I think that he may ascend to the role of Coldplay, with universal and positive message, good instrumentals and international fame, all very well earned and deserved.
 

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