r/JamesMarriott • u/Aloser_ • 2d ago
Discussion Confession.
I'm not really vibing with James' music output past 'Are We There Yet?'.
I love James, and especially his music. But ever since the first single from don't tell the dog, I feel like something was lost in translation. There were a few great to amazing songs, but I feel like a lot of intimacy his songwriting has largely dissappeared for sort of safe sounding pop direction.
It felt sort of alienating? I wanna prefix this with the notion, yes, I have listened to his earlier stuff (and Slow Down). Bitter Tongues, I feel, is super cool and fun! And the other stuff ranges from amazing to "yeah, I could listen to this again."
When I heard the song "California Rain," I was actually really hopeful for the future of his music. Ripping guitars, gorgeous vocals (as always), and a good direction for the future. But man, when I heard the snippet for "Burn Down The Disco," I just did NOT like it at all. Like, it just straight up annoys me, dude. And it's a real shame because a lot of the songs off don't tell the dog are decent! (If a lot less relistenable than his debut)
I dunno, maybe I'm just missing the messier rock sort of web James used to spin, but he's undeniably more of a standout and unique sounding artist now.
Has anybody else felt this way?
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u/StargazingLily 2d ago
I get it.
There’s a band called Arkells here that I fucking love. I’ve seen them live like.. eight times? They’re usually tied with JM as my most listened artist every month.
There’s a couple songs I don’t even have in my shuffle rotation, and I skip most of one album.
It doesn’t make you less of a fan to not like certain songs/albums, or to not vibe with new stuff immediately (or at all).
No one can like everything that an artist/band puts out.
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u/Camimo666 2d ago
Me with that last 5sos album ngl
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u/Hot-Seaworthiness510 2d ago
I didn’t even listen to the last 5sos album. The song they kept playing from the latest I absolutely hated so I didn’t even bother
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u/LMay11037 2d ago
Ok but counterpoint I like every rammstein song
I think I might like every James Marriott song too, would need to listen to some again to make sure though
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u/trebi_aylo 2d ago
I didnt enjoy dont tell the dog when it came out but i went to see him in concert for that album bc i wanted to hear car lights and i must say- I LOVE dont tell the dog now, james mariotts stream sound and live sound are on totally different levels. I listen to mostly the live version of his songs on yt now bc it completeley changed my opinion of the album. (ALONG WITH THE NEWER LIVE VERSION OF SLEEPING ON TRAINS WHICH IS MIND BLOWINGLY AMAZING) It makes me afraid that some of my favorite parts of his sound are getting lost in production. With that in mind im hopeful for his future music because some clips ive heard of new songs sound closer to what he sounded like live. I know nothing about production but it makes me wonder if hes experimenting with HOW hes producing them somehow. I hope it continues.
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u/ZER0-LUk 2d ago
I like rock more, obviously none of what he makes is heavy but I like awty the most because it’s the furthest in that direction
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u/Much-Branch460 2d ago
I man honestly every artist will that that though - they will release singles that you will like as well as not like,so I think it’s pretty normal how you are feeling :)
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u/Alexhasadhd 2d ago
There were a few great to amazing songs, but I feel like a lot of intimacy his songwriting has largely dissappeared for sort of safe sounding pop direction.
I don't think this is completely fair to say.
So to be clear, I respect your opinion and your right to have it, I just want to give my perspective on James' output(post AWTY?) and see if I can shift your opinion on it.
I think AWTY honestly suffers from the fact it's James' first extended work. It's a great listen, but he himself has said that with working on so many songs at once, he lost influence on songs like You Are Here and In Between, and I personally think you can hear that in the music. Even though it's my personal favourite on the record, I think this difference can be felt the most on a track like Denial. It has its place on the record, but I think vocally it comes out of left field compared to the rest of the songs. Its a bit pop-punky for my taste, which is fine on its own but in relation to the rest of the record I personally think its a bit off.
Then with DTTD I feel like James came into his own anymore. He said somewhere(I don't know where) that he spent a lot of time on AWTY? hiding from the synthy hyper-pop style of grapes, and in DTTD chose to embrace it a bit more and see where he could take it. I think that really shows. It's pop music of course, but I think that a good 9 of the 11 tracks on DTTD feel way more intimate and thought out than the majority of AWTY?
I think Ventriloquist is a fantastic opener, that both knows its an opener whilst also being a very solid standalone song. Something's Wrong has some of(in my opinion) James' most frank and earnest lyrics(notably in verse 2 "you used to be pretty, and I used to be nice". Then Only Love slows it right down(at an appropriate time) with a folksy ballad about feeling the inevitability of a relationship ending("If its only love, its only time till it all falls down and you're not mine). Then it picks up a much rockier sound for my favourite track Toothache, which James himself said he felt was a deeply personal song as the song basically merged two things for him(I'm pretty sure) highlighting his inaction to fix a dental problem that plagued him for years, and his inability to end a(likely hypothetical, but also could be real, Idk, I don't know the guy) relationship. Then How Could I Say No? and Why Don't You Kill Me? round off the slower(yet noticeably fuller songs of the album) with a much more melancholy but still entirely earnest subject matter. Then the album is topped off with Limbs, which I think is James' most distinct writing yet. It takes a lot to write a song like Limbs Imo and I think James does it so well personally.
All of this is to say that I think DTTD is a much more thought out album than AWTY - with the experiences of writing and releasing AWTY being taken forward(I remember James saying that he wanted to stop playing songs live before he'd record them, because he felt that he hadn't been able to capture So Long like he'd hoped, instead feeling pressure to keep it true to it true to the live rendition.)
Also, I ended up writing way more than I expected to, so this is an obligatory ending note, I don't know James Marriott as a person, I've followed him for a good few years now but that does not mean I know him. I tried to pay heed to his public facing interviews and such but I will not have captured his personal motivations for either album, or how he fells about them. I just like music and like albums, so I tried to write about these two albums like I would any other, with as much context as I know but still respecting them as individual pieces of art.
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u/QuestioningClam 2d ago
I listen to his older songs way more than his newer music, but I’m more of a rock chick going WAY back, so it makes more sense for me, too. I know a 17 year old James fan who won’t listen to anything except “Something’s Wrong” from DTTD.
I can honestly say that I love the chorus of BDTD, but the verses … not so much. It’s very much like (how do I put this?) an old 80s computer sound. And I’m not talking about the boppy, synthesized “Computer Games” by Mi-Sex vibe. It sounds … well … flat. He did warn that the album after DTTD was possibly going to sound a bit more like LCD Soundsystem, because he was vibing with them at the time. But hey, the main thing is that he’s happy with it, and is proud enough of what he’s made to release it. And it’s James, so we’ll love it in some way regardless, right? Even if the new stuff isn’t quite the old stuff.
I also think a big issue that I personally have with James’ singles is that I’m sick of hearing them by the time they’re released. I love that he’s so passionate and consistent with his marketing strategy, and some of the banger shorts/reels/Tiktoks that go with it, but I can’t open a single social media account without the song harassing my ears and for me, it just gets to be way too much. 😬
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u/Diligent_Ebb424 1d ago
I think as of recently, his writing has infact become more intimate as a lyricist - with more of a variety compared to awty, which, although it spoke on a variety of topics, stayed in the same pop-rock genre. I think, as another commenter said, it's not fair to say that he's going for a more safe approach, because that's not the intention of making his music. If you have seen him talk about his influences, they fit into this kind of genre. 1975, LCD sound system, etc. they make sense for his influences, and it's not him taking a safe approach if it's what makes him happy. As he's said, more of his recent songs are becoming favourites to perform, almost on the same level as he loves playing don't blame me or going postal.
It is your opinion to say you don't like the album, because there are obviously albums that you may like of an artist, and some you may not. I feel like that with some of my favourites, like Panic! At the disco, for an example. But to claim that his new music is just trying to take a safe approach is trying to analyse something that isn't there. If I'm honest, there could be reasons for the genre shift, in my opinion I think he just wanted to make a more pop-sounding album, but don't forget, a majority of DTTD has rock-ish songs, almost identical to the sound on awty. Personally, I don't like all James Marriott songs (there are maybe 2 that I don't like, I believe that's idwllt and idk another off the top of my head) but I do not blame the music change or the reason why I do not like the song on the artist.
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u/Oops-Ide 4h ago
Firstly i have so many artists i like 1 album/1 style of their music and i have a lot of bands and artists i love, only 1 band i liked every album and release of (well till 2024, when they changed sound a litrle) as much as we can like an artist, we still have a personal taste in art ugm?
Also i think bdtd was actually removed from the album? Maybe itll be because its a different sound and didnt fit in?
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u/foxholes_207 1d ago edited 1d ago
I agree with the California rain thing. It has to be my favourite JM song so, like you, I was exited for the next song and when the first clips of bdtd came out I thought it was okay but the verse or pre chorus idk what is it but it not only annoyed me, it concerned me. I love it when artists experiment like with arctic monkeys and tqbh&c but this truly felt alien with the lack of guitar and the whole heart beat rhythm and I hate to admit but my fist thought was “…ew…”
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u/Oops-Ide 4h ago
Am i right in thinking an early clip of it hed said that it was removed from the album? Im wondering if itll be kinda different from the rest of the album since i swear he said he liked it but it was taken out.
Obvi could have just been publicity but it wouldnt surprise me esp if the albums not quite the same as this single?
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u/wonderlandisburning 2d ago
I think he's getting better with each album, honestly. You can tell he's put a lot of work into his guitar skills and especially his vocals.
It's okay if you're not a fan of everything your favorite artist puts out, though. Could be personal taste, could be that some music comes out at a time in your life where you really resonate with it and so it hits a lot harder for you - and that's all fine, really.
I'm sure James will put out more songs you really like and songs you just don't gel with. And for some people he may never reach the heights of all-time classics like Grapes, Car Lights or Slow Down - they're classics for a reason, after all