Will You Let Me Romanticize

Last year, Jamie Cullum released a jazzy album, Twentysomething, which was very reminiscent of a male version of Norah Jones but with a little more of an edge. Well that and less album sales and Grammys. And to take the comparison a little further, Jones went on to collaborate with Outkast while Cullum’s latest album, Catching Tales was produced by Pharrell of the Neptunes. Coincidently, Cullum, covered Pharrell’s Frontin' on his last album.

Pharrell’s influence isn’t evident in the beats as Catching Tales is still piano heavy just like Cullum’s previous outing, but the pianist does seem have more of a swagger this time around especially on the album opener, Get Your Way, a breezy song highlighted by a horn section straight out of the bag band era. The closest the album comes to a hip-hop beat is an acoustic riff on the last song, My Yard that closely resembles an Usher song.

The stand out tracks on his last album were the eclectic cover song like the previous mentioned Frontin' along with Radiohead’s High and Dry and Jimi Hendrix’s The Wind Cries Mary all arranged to fit Cullum’s jazzy background. There are a few more covers on this album starting with the old Flamingo’s classic, I Only Have Eyes for You which doesn’t sound quite right without the “Sho-wop, sho-wop’s.” Cullum also take a stab at a sadly overlooked gem, Catch the Sun by the Doves, which Cullum does a little better at, but you still should check the original sometimes.

Even though Cullum usually does a very good job at covering other artist song, he does a good job creating his own songs. Keeping with the cocksure he seemed to inherit from Pharrell, there’s also Nothing I Do. The song is about not being able to impress that one special girl but that doesn’t stop you from trying. The best part of the song is the line, “Yesterday I called you back and you called me a stupid twat.” Excuse me for going into Butthead mode, but, “Ha, ha, he said ‘twat.’” He even has the gall to end the song with a whistle solo yet somehow still making it sound cool.

Song to Download – Get Your Way

Catching Tales gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.