Stuck on Shuffle: Jamie Lenman’s strive for creativity
Jamie Lenman has been a bit of an institution in the British music since as long as he first injected himself into the very core of it all back when REUBEN first came about. That explosive and wildly creative band marked the rise of one of the British alternative scenes most instantly recognisable figures. The man has a camp named after his band at 2000trees Festival, and his presence and influence is referenced everywhere. And if that wasn’t enough, he was called in as back-up for BLACK PEAKS earlier this year, resulting in one of the most unique pairings we’ve heard or seen in a while.
Jamie has made his influence far and wide, but he admits that it isn’t something he thinks about on a regular, or even semi regular basis. “People put it across my mind. If left to my own devices I would never think about that band, well that’s not true because I’ve got the albums on my wall downstairs!” He explains. “This is not a complaint, people just will not shut up about it.” It’s probably quite hard for people to shut up about it when bands like the aforementioned BLACK PEAKS, or HECK, or EMPLOYED TO SERVE probably wouldn’t exist without his musical input into the scene.
Even with this, Jamie seems a tad confused as to how it ultimately makes him feel, given his current push as a solo artist. “There’s gratitude that people are kind enough to say it, and relief that it all meant something. It put me where I am that band and it’s the ultimate, ultimate, ultimate sign of success, that something you did matter. That if someone still listens to [REUBEN] and it informs their music choices then that is great, it’s all I ever wanted.” People certainly remember REUBEN, and they also remember Jamie both as he is now and as he was back then. He references his evolution as a performer, and how his time in REUBEN shaped him from the NIRVANA worshipping youth to the banterous and deeply entertaining performer he is now.
Enough of dwelling on the past thought, because all of this evolution has led to Shuffle, the latest release from Jamie Lenman, and things aren’t what you would immediately think. Shuffle firstly begs the listener to for go album listing and press that shuffle button and dive head first into Jamie‘s personal collection of handpicked covers. And as Jamie mentions himself, this is something that has been brewing for longer than any of us know.
“Shuffle was inevitable, it was always going to happen, even before I was into rock. Those early BEATLES records are more or less cover albums, at least half and half. One of my other favourite albums, well there’s a couple, Anni Lennox’s Medusa and Cindy Lauper’s Greatest Hits has got a lot of covers on it, and those are both artists I’ve covered on [Shuffle] so it comes full circle. I just always assumed I’d do it at some point, the same way I assumed I’d be in a band or play shows.”
The range of covers doesn’t stop at Annie Lennox or Cindy Lauper, no in fact they are as far reaching as potentially anything released this year. Jamie discusses the time he discovered a tape of himself at the age of 12 performing a cover of Adamantium Rage, the theme for a Wolverine based SNES video game. Jamie Lenman’s creativity truly knows no bounds, and will leave no stone unturned in his quest for writing the music he wants to write.
Shuffle doesn’t just feature covers though, as even mediums outside of the musical find their art under scrutiny from the lense of Lenman. “I didn’t just want to do a two minute dialogue piece between me and another actor,” is what Jamie mentions on his rendition of Duncan Wellaway‘s Always Crashing in the Same Car. The two minute snippet being some of the most diverse and creatively rich on the entire Shuffle album, it also shows Jamie Lenman to be a true maverick in what he does. Also taking the time to feature a chapter from his favourite book, Moby Dick, Jamie Lenman continues to separate himself from the rest of the pack in the best way possible. And in doing so, he is able to continue to spearhead the progression of music in territories our scene hasn’t really ventured towards, or at least not with this level of success.
Indeed Jamie Lenman has only deepened his own legend with Shuffle, and proven even further why he is such a spoken about, referenced, and revered member of the British alternative scene. His dress sense is sharper but his creative vision even sharper still.
Shuffle is out now via Big Scary Monsters.
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