Having fronted Grinspoon since they first formed back in 1995, when he was just 18, Phil Jamieson finally releases his debut solo record – which he’s playfully labelled “dad pop” – and serves up some food for thought in the opening title track: “If you could be somebody else/ Would you turn back time?”
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Some of these songs predate his stint playing St. Jimmy in Green Day’s musical ‘American Idiot’ (2017). And Jamieson’s solo journey began with ‘Kapow!’, which expertly bottles the buzz of a spontaneous getaway (“Let’s run away together/ To a village by the sea”). Jamieson has actually performed this Stereophonics-esque lead single during live sets for about a year now and claims he’s already been “DM’d on socials” about the “mystery song in the set”.
There’s an abundance of thrilling ‘ooooooh shiiiiiit!’ arrangement twists throughout killer second single ‘Trouble’ (co-written/co-produced by You Am I’s Davey Lane). Those gnarly riffs are so unexpectedly sexy and Jamieson flexes the upper reaches of his singable compass here (“…THIIIIIIINGS I’VE DONE!) – such a showoff.
‘YCBM’ (You Could Be Mine) struts in with cowboy swagger and what sounds like slinky güiro accents; “You could be mine/ If I could find the time”. Jamieson channels the debonair Alex Turner here; just one of the various new sonic identities he tries on, across this LP’s eight tracks, while transforming from Grinspoon’s frontman into Somebody Else entirely.
Label: Cheersquad Records & Tapes
Release date: 27 July
