More Music You Should Be Listening To....

time for another installment of me informing you about music you're probably not listening to.

I was in London the first week of January 2007. While there, and riding the Tube (subway) around the city all week, I was inundated with this poster in practically every single station I went to:



This was clearly an ad for an album, but I had no idea what or who Just Jack was....band, solo artist, or whatever. By the end of the week I was so curious what it was that I bought the CD at a music store before I left, for 10 pounds (which is like $20). I was pleasantly surprised. Just Jack is another name for Jack Allsop. This album, 'Overtones', was extremely eclectic and catchy....Allsop's music is like a combination of introspective soul-rap (with a British accent) and light funky-jazz pop all rolled together. It's really hard to pin down Just Jack, genre wise, as the songs on 'Overtones' vary in styles a great deal. This album is fantastic, and wasn't even really released in the US until 10 months or so after its UK release....so little to no one seemed to notice here in the US. The album was tweaked a bit in the UK, as after it became a hit the song 'I Talk Too Much' was given a remix featuring Kylie Minogue, one of Europe's biggest pop stars. The song 'No Time', which was already really catchy, was given a bombastic remix that made it have an almost Jamiroquai-esque sound, and for a while the remix was up on Just Jack's Myspace page.

Well, thanks to the mystical powers of the Internet, I've been able to listen to the new Just Jack album that will be released in a month or so in the UK (no US release date is set yet, of course).

Well, 'All Night Cinema' is a great follow-up t0 'Overtones', with 11 new songs of varying styles and rich melodies. Songs like 'Doctor Doctor' and 'Goth in the Disco' have propulsive club beats, but retain a sense of intelligence, with Allsop providing some clever wordplays that accentuate the ear candy.

'Embers', the opening track and single, is catchy and memorable in its own right, albeit a bit different from usual Just Jack songs. All in all, the album is excellent, and a fantastic companion to 'Overtones'.

Hopefully people in the US take note of Just Jack, if this album ever comes out here, and hopefully he plays some shows in the US. I, for one, would love to check out his live show.

So yeah. listen to Just Jack. Here are some videos:

This is 'Starz in their Eyes', the single from 'Overtones'


here's the vid for 'Embers' from 'All Night Cinema'