Album Review: Jarryd James - Thirty One

Jarryd James is Brisbane's most visible shy guy. Thrust into the spotlight these last few months, last year the reserved singer-songwriter was still struggling to juggle making music with his full-time job as a youth worker. Two years before he was playing guitar and singing in the middling indie-rock band Holland, although don't be surprised if you've never heard of them. They recorded a debut album only to experience the slow agony of watching their label permanently shelve the project. James fell into depression and temporarily quit making music.

Thirty One is now his debut solo release, and things couldn't be looking better. Having recently performed at Splendour In The Grass, he's already achieved massive success with the first two singles. The bittersweet themes of Do You Remember permeate the rest of this album, as Sure Love mixes a little sunshine into this sense of nostalgia and Undone turns to a deeper shade of melancholy blue. Meanwhile, tracks like This Time (Serious Symptoms, Simple Solutions) and The Way You Like It bring James' hazy reminiscences crashing into the complicated present. The maximalist stomp of Give Me Something and string flourishes of High showcase the album's textured production, as James and his team of producers blend naturalistic sounds with electronic undertones. Ripe with repetition, the songs here are made to reflect the kind of seminal tracks that inspired James himself. The details are little vague around the edges, but that's exactly the way our memories feel.