Ever since I started blogging more frequently a few months back, I find myself inundated with requests from indie labels and PR firms trying to get me to mention their artists on my blog. As flattering as this all is, it’s also VERY overwhelming. I have a stack of CDs that I’m still waiting to listen to as well as a ton of promotional material and press releases waiting to be sorted through and read.
While a lot of the music I receive isn’t my usual style, every so often something catches my attention. This afternoon I was going through some old emails and found a press release promoting Gary Go. When I heard his version of Lady Gaga’s smash “Just Dance,” it was love at first listen. His sound reminds me of a cross between James Blunt (without the shrillness) and James Morrison. He takes “Just Dance” and strips it down into a beautifully emotive ballad, throwing in a bit of auto-tune for effect. Check it out below and buy it on iTunes where it’s an album bonus track.
Just Dance (Lady GaGa Cover) – Gary Go
Gary Go’s self titled album was released in the States on September 15th and contains 11 beautiful pop tracks (13, if you get the album on iTunes). Born in London, Gary Go is what I like to call “geek chic,” with his trademark dark-rimmed glasses and overall hipster style. Go brings something new and different to the whole singer/songwriter genre, which until now has bored me. According to his press release, Go is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, as well as a gifted narrator – not surprising, given that his father was a producer on Jim Henson’s Muppets.
Currently a rising star in the UK , Gary Go has already garnered a lot of praise with his debut album. Q Magazine called his album a “gigantic pop debut,” while Red Magazine calls the talented Brit’s debut a “Must-Hear Album,” going on to say “if you like Coldplay, you’ll like this.” British paper The Sun describes Go as “the musical love child of Chris Martin and David Gray, with an added dash of bespectacled charm.” I couldn’t agree more. This album is pure pop brilliance at it’s best. I am hard core crushing on Gary Go right now.
