Jake Bugg found working on a documentary soundtrack made him “less self-indulgent” with his own album.
The 27-year-old singer has undergone a busy period, working on tracks for his new LP ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’ and also putting together instrumentals, complete with Latin influences, for a film about Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldino.
Jake loved getting the chance to branch out with the soundtrack, and thinks it had a positive influence on his regular writing.
He told The Sun newspaper: “It’s been a brilliant experience. And it helped me be less self-indulgent and less experimental with my own record.
“Writing to the story of Ronaldinho, writing to football, you’re never short of inspiration.
“He had so much passion and always had a smile on his face.”
However, he had conflicting emotions when having to score the part in the film that covered Ronaldinho’s stunning 40-yard free kick against England at the 2002 World Cup, knocking them out of the tournament in the quarter finals.
He said: “Yeah, that was a very conflicting scene to write to, I’m not going to lie!”
Jake knows some fans will be surprised by some of the tracks on his album, such as the dance-influenced ‘Lost’, but he wasn’t too worries as he knows there’s also a lot of songs with his classic sound.
He said of ‘Lost’: “I always felt it was a good song and I was ready for criticism to come my way, especially from some of the hardcore fans.
“But I didn’t worry too much because I knew I had other songs that very much sounded like my older stuff.”
The ‘Lightning Bolt’ hitmaker thinks he’s improved as a singer since he first shot to fame 10 years ago.
He said: “I like to think I’ve improved as a singer over the years.
“I’ve never thought of myself as particularly good but I like to push myself as much as I can.
“When you step more into a pop sound, like on this record, it comes with the territory.”