Jack Garratt recently explained his absence from music, telling how he was hit with crippling self-doubt and poor mental health.
As well as recovering, the 2016 Brit Award winner has used those four years to create an album where he is no longer reliant on anyone else’s sound but his own. It is mature modern pop, with hazy synths and impressive vocal harmonies.
The record is full of brutal honesty, personalising the disassociation that often goes with mental illness. Lyrics jump out — on Mend A Heart: “You made me doubt the sound of my own voice,” and on Doctor Please: “It’s all right not to be OK.” References to medication, doctors, bad reviews and high expectations give us a glimpse into the singer’s mind.
Sonically, the album reflects a manic mental state — moments of calm turn into outbreaks of chaotic chords with abrupt time signatures and key changes. “It’s dance music for people who don’t want to go out!” Garratt says, and his timing couldn’t be more apt.
