Simon Jacobs

With its more acoustic and 'unplugged' tone, 'Organic' brings you songs about love and relationships that have mostly gone wrong... in fact at one point, I was going to call it 'Bitter & Twisted'. However, a couple of tracks have nothing to do with matters of the heart: 'Olympic Runner' and 'Stella McCartney...' both provide quite different and unusual subjects for a pop song.

Key tracks: 'It's You', 'Stone By Stone', 'You Never Will'

https://open.spotify.com/album/1FQe3JrfpLlkT7UREz7GnH?si=n1jHm33FQs2aMbpnYjbzwg

Maybe as an antidote to a world in crisis comes this escape-from-it-all set of (mostly) upbeat tracks you can dance to... I say upbeat, but if you listen, there's definitely a wistful sadness lurking behind the lighthearted tone. And in the final track, 'Another Saturday', the party's very much over... This is dance as an act of defiance.

Key tracks: 'You Do You', 'Stir The Pot', 'My Suburban Street'

https://open.spotify.com/album/3CLfDEdb3OuRfgTlY8HJt7?si=Hn6FubdGQc-G_pEvJjasIg

This album delivers a slightly heavier and more guitar-driven punch than previous albums, due largely to my increasing confidence at playing my lovely beginners Yamaha electric guitar. This is most clearly heard on ‘Tongue-Tied’, the country-tinged ‘You Must Be Laughing’ and ‘Spoil Your Vibe’. I’m proud to claim what must be a first: the album ends with a sneeze (‘Hayfever’).

Key tracks: ‘Strange Alien’, ‘I Breathe With You’ and ‘Lay Down My Life’.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6Hs5UPUjpihFXmAnRsJOOw?si=SQ034LgTTXK9S3suezKe3w

I thought if Adele could release 19, 21, 25 etc… then I could release ‘5’, so called because it’s my 5th album and - staying with the Adele comparisons - the big face on the cover is me, at the age of 5. There are, as ever, a few songs with serious messages (‘Everybody Here Is From Somewhere Else’, ‘Things’) sprinkled amongst the lighter, poppier - or downright silly - tracks (‘Adored’).

Key tracks: ‘I Don’t Love You Any More’, ‘Coming Up Roses’ and ‘For The Kids’.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4TkKKmhNB7YVfehfLopXGt?si=FAH1QSQhTKKHpmOqyw1Xbw

The title of this album came from a line in the opening track ‘I Think I Love You’ and seemed apt for the whole collection. Like ’12 Colours’, there are a number of tracks heavily influenced by the pandemic (‘World’s Getting Better’, ‘Water on the Moon’, ‘Step Into The Sun’), alongside songs about domestic dramas (‘Mama Said’, ‘You’re Leaving Home’). ‘Crash and Burn’ is about Hong Kong and ‘Free’ was my reflection on the murder of George Floyd. Thankfully, there are lighter tracks: ‘Interstellar DJ’ about living on the Space Station and ‘Night Owl’, about being… er… a night owl. This, incidentally, remains my most streamed song to date.

Key tracks: ‘I Think I Love You’, ‘World’s Getting Better’ and ‘Step Into The Sun’.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0gLcLISiJbjrqWiIKQ4LDj?si=5_u7-rESQquXuRJK8eVXKA

As this album was coming together and the singles released one by one, Covid with all its restrictions arrived. I attempted not to release a pandemic soundtrack, but there are clear influences and references within some of the songs, most obviously ‘Who’ll Be There?’ and ‘The Last Colour Is Black’. Elsewhere, ‘Be Like Water’ was about the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong, ’Stiff Upper Lip’ addressed male emotional unintelligence (!) and ‘Joshua Says’ about a teenager dealing with gender identity. 

Key tracks: ‘Waiting For The Rain’, ‘Make It Happen’ and ‘Stiff Upper Lip’.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5PmV1iLy7jbS7LByWImjBH?si=xJRoBuDXQUC1gn2alZYW1g

A hint of a theme emerged in the songs on ‘Baby Boomer’: a number of them harked back to bygone days from the point of view of its 50-something narrator (’Top Of The Pops’, ‘Here’s To Disco’, ‘No Time to Lose’) or pointed out the insanity of the world in the 21st Century (‘Please Hold’). And it was on this collection that I started using samples (hear the brass section in ’Sore’ or the guitar opening to ‘Stolen the Stars’). Brexit made a second appearance on the track ‘Optimistic’, which should have been called ‘Misplaced Optimism’…

Key tracks: ‘Baby Boomers’, ‘Optimistic’ and Ghosts’.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6Gg5Xh0VGR7VCw69XPyDm8?si=9VzoRndgRMGwgSORrlkPdw

A triumph of enthusiasm over experience, my first album was released with no introductory singles, precious little social media coverage and no clear idea of how I would convince an unsuspecting public to take an interest. Being the first album, it consisted of a mix of songs I’d written decades earlier and a few written specifically for this album. I remain genuinely proud of some of the songs, but less so the production quality.

Key tracks: ‘Gypsy’, ‘This Is A Love Song’ and ‘AI’.