Jake Bugg charmed us all at 19 years old when he released his first album, which revived a familiar folk-rock sound of the 60’s. He left me a little disappointed, however, with a second album that seemed to force an inauthentic electric rock sound. Now, Bugg has released two singles off his forthcoming album On My One, including the album title track, “On My One.” This track is greatly reminiscent of Bugg’s earlier work: the acoustic guitar and simple vocals take center stage as Jake tells an eerie tale of the loneliness of youth. At times I expected that he would break from the rhythm and transition to a more pop-sounding chorus, but, corresponding with the mood of the song, the same guitar strumming endures for the entire two and a half minutes. Bugg has been known to switch between acoustic and electric at the drop of a dime, so this single really has no merit in predicting what his soon-to-be-released album will sound like, but it shows at least an inkling of a return to the folk-acoustic Jake Bugg we once knew.
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