Jeremy Jay – Slow Dance (2009) [K] // Grade: B+

Jeremy Jay is a mixture of a storyteller, artist and singer. Currently, he splits his time between living in Paris and Los Angeles, the dream cities of the French New Wave and Hollywood. Similar to films, Jeremy identifies with the visual stories of life and love, and touches on everything human; he is always in the process of writing and recording, playing the guitar and taking walks to new places. Jeremy is getting acquainted to living in Paris, but still draws much of his inspiration from American artists like Andy Warhol and iconic teen filmmaker John Hughes.

That’s Jeremy Jay’s bio from the K records website. Maybe it’s just me,  but it’s filled with the sort of cutesy Hipster naïvité that just makes you want to hate Jeremy Jay before ever hearing his work. Thankfully his new album, Slow Dance is so goddamn good that his artist bio is pretty easy to get over. I think it’s time you got a new bio Jeremy Jay because the above really belittles you as an artist.

Slow Dance is filled with the sort of Lo-Fi pop that is reminiscent of Gary Wilson’s creepy bedroom masterpiece You Think You Really Know Me. Like Wilson, Jay’s melodies and music are deliberate, simple and just off kilter enough to be interesting without being pretentious. However unlike Wilson Jeremy Jay smartly side-steps Wilson’s brand of self-deprecating pity in favor of the sort of impassive emotion and air of cool that Nico was known for.

Because of his bio I couldn’t help but keep a suspicious ear open for anything that may have felt staged. Thankfully though, those suspicions never came to pass. Slow Dance is rife with the sort of adolescent vulnerability cut with the sort of confidence that not only makes it believable but timeless.

This is the sort of album that feels like a favorite well-worn t-shirt, comfortable and is always a good fit regardless of your mood. Highly recommended!

- My Pal the Crook