Graham Reid | | 1 min read
Tazman Jack is certainly talented. For this six-song debut (and the remix of Deeper) he played just about everything (his acoustic guitar playing is sensitive and impressive) and in terms of lyrical content he makes all the moves that so many young New Zelanders like: he comes off as a sensitive guy (Show Me Love); is supportive of mental health issues (Better Than Me with a light reggae rhythm, Myself); respects his lover (the title track), and sings about grooving to the music and so on.
All safe topics ideally suited to his soulful vocals and gentle songs.
Lyrically however once he hits on an idea or a catchy line he doesn't shift very far from it.
When he does – as on the lightly funky Real with programmed beats and support from NU – you can hear something less tailored emerging.
Jack – who is 27, works day jobs and knows his way around a tune – sounds utterly sincere here and that acoustic playing is pretty special (check out Deeper with, again, a reggae shuffle).
But his self-confessed influences are “the guitarist, pop singer styles of Jack Johnson and John Mayer, and the soulful Kiwi roots of Six60”.
Now those are fine if uncontroversial influences of the kind local audiences obviously like. A tried and proven if well-worn track.
But at this point Jack – who has it within him to find a distinctive style of his own – sounds constrained by those populist reference points.
Pleasant but very safe, not a risk taken . . . and, given local populist taste, no doubt popular.
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You can hear this album on Spotify here
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