Jack Garratt “can’t afford” to spend years working on his next album.
The 29-year-old singer – whose 2016 debut ‘Phase’ was followed by ‘Love, Death & Dancing’ last summer – admitted the impact of the pandemic on the music industry means he won’t be leaving it quite as long between records.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “In the spirit of transparency – which is something I think my industry is not very good at being – I can’t afford to not release something pretty immediately.
“Quite literally, the last year has meant that it’s gonna be really hard for me to take a three-year hiatus even if I wanted to – and luckily I don’t.
“Luckily I’m writing a lot, I’ve got things I wanna put out, I’m enjoying the music I’m making at the moment.”
Jack pointed out that while he’s not “destitute or bankrupt”, he doesn’t have the “luxury” of being able to wait – although it’s providing added motivation for his writing.
He explained: “There’s a lot of artists who will think that it’s not about the money, it’s not about the business, it’s about the art.
“There’s a lot of other people who are 100%, ‘No it’s 100% about the money, it’s 100% about the business, don’t really care about the art’.
“I can sit somewhere on the fence between those two worlds. It’s an interesting furnace to sit next to because I know I need to make an album – not quickly, but I can’t spend as long as I did last time.
“On the other hand, it’s helping me write really well, I’m loving the music I’m making at the moment.”
Jack – who returned to live music recently with socially distanced shows – is keen to get back on tour, and he admitted a new album is the best way of making that happen.
He added: “I just wanna get out and play shows and the only way I can get out and play shows is if I have new music to release.”
Jack performed a full band version of his track ‘Time’ for Jim Beam Welcome Sessions, and he also opened up on the wave of emotions being back in a live venue in that way.
He said: “I hadn’t quite realised how emotionally impactful it was gonna be until we were shooting. I kinda just hadn’t thought about it.
“Not because I Was taking it for granted, but because I was thinking about everything else, trying to create this performance, trying to create this film with an amazing team of people. “But then when we started performing it, it really hit – these brick walls haven’t had a full band inside them for over year, and that felt wonderful, to just bring the noise to it.”
Jack Garratt’s unique performance of ‘Time’ recorded at Village Underground is released exclusively on Jim Beam’s official YouTube channel, marking the official launch of the Jim Beam Welcome Sessions: a multi-year partnership that invites global artists back to the iconic independent venues that gave them their first stage.