Jarryd James a new star in the making

by Patrick Cameron

Did Atelier witness the arrival of Australia’s next big musical export last night?

New kid on the block Jarryd James brought his soulful electro to den Atelier on Sunday night.

James went from relative obscurity to top of the charts in his native Australia in a matter of months. After just two singles he was selling out 1000 capacity venues, not bad for someone without an album to his name at the time.

Having supported “Angus and Julia Stone” on a nationwide tour and enlisting the production talents of Joel Little (Lorde) on his debut album “Thirty One”, it wasn’t long until his name had spread across his vast country. His debut single went in at number two, only for his album to hit the same spot on release – just last week.

He is now in the middle of a short European tour, a kind of introduction to the audiences over here, before he goes back to capitalise on the success of his album.

First up on Sunday night was Luxembourg’s own ambient electro duo “Napoleon Gold” who always bring such blissful warmth to their live shows, whilst mixing up their down-tempo electro with a rhythmic groove, their set wraps you up with a warm blanket of electro delight.

The stage was then set for James to announce his arrival to Luxembourg for the first time. It didn’t take long to see why he has built up such success at home; he manages to craft smooth R&B sounds with nice rhythmic beats, allowing the tracks to stay fresh whist his soulful falsetto vocals washed over the room.

James mostly stood a solitary figure in front of his band looking somewhat shy but also coming across very endearing whilst saying “I’m surprised so many of you showed up tonight”. To which some girls nearby gave out an “aww”. He seemed genuinely delighted that people are coming to see him all over the world.

Of course he was playing songs from his recently released album, which is not up on Spotify yet. So it was of no surprise that the two singles got the best response of the night, with the upbeat soul-tinged pop of “Give Me Something” leading to the crowd dancing along.

Then onto the hit single “Do You Remember” with its sparse and haunting beat teamed with his R&B inspired vocals, it certainly created the highlight of the evening.

The encore was short and sweet just the one song and apparently an old one of his, how old that makes it I’m not sure. But it was just himself at the keyboard allowing his vocals to take centre stage, a bold intimate song to finish on.

On last nights viewing I suspect it wont be long until James is back playing to bigger crowds. There is clearly a pop sensibility to his music, which is working commercially, whilst he is not afraid to incorporate his many influences from from R&B and soul, a winning formula.

Take a read of Patrick Cameron's other reviews in his very own dossier:   Patrick's concert news & reviews 

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