Album Review

Jamie Sutherland – The World As It Used To Be

• 4th Sep 2024

Jamie Sutherland is best known as lead singer with Scottish indie-folk band Broken Records, which he formed with his brother Rory. He has also released a solo album, Bruise, in 2017. This second solo release was largely written during the pandemic, and sees a more stripped back approach, coming closer to a classic folk sound.

The World As It Used To Be offers nine varied tracks that showcase Sutherand’s impressively wide vocal range very well. With emotional lyrics and sympathetic production that allows his voice to shine, this is a good collection of songs, expertly delivered.

Start Again, a past single, begins the album in melodic fashion, guitar and vocals coming together nicely. Some Things Hurt A Little More, with some lovely guitar picking, tells of the ghosts that follow us as we age. The memories and past relationships that are long gone but still have an impact on us.

The excellent You Were My Friend has a lovely harmonica opening and an upbeat sound to go with melancholic lyrics. This is another song that looks backwards and, while there are hints of regret, it is more of a celebration of good memories. Always Be has a more expansive sound, its lyrics a gentle homage to home, whatever that means to you. The pace is slightly faster and the joy shines through. All You’ve Ever Known Of Love is a snapshot of two lovers trying to work things out, a folksy Americana with just Sutherland on guitar and keyboard.

The album’s title track is also the standout, with echoes of Dylan in Greenwich Village coffee shops, harmonica and guitar in unison. It feels like a protest song of the past, telling of recent difficult times and yearning for a better world. We Will Rise closes the album beautifully, slow and optimistic, a deeper sound with strings resonating in a song that leaves us with a tangible sense of hope.

Jamie Sutherland describes this as “an adult record”, with lyrics borne of life experiences. There is a great deal of emotion in this album, but it is controlled and with a reflective feel. The World As It Used To Be has a coherence and a quality that makes it well worth a listen.

Label: Frictionless Music

Release date: 6 September 2024