Jonathan Jeremiah: dark tunnel, bright light

Jonathan Jeremiah spent seven years working on his debut. A mere one and a half years later, his second album hits the shelves. Next Monday the British singer with the soulful voice will be hosted by the (VRT) Radio 1 Session with Jef Neve. “Of course I said yes!”

Things are going well for singer-songwriter Jonathan Jeremiah. His debut album, A Solitary Man, put together over a number of years while he survived thanks to a series of odd jobs, was a big hit on this side of the Channel. The tall Brit with the powerful, autumnal baritone voice seemed to be everywhere on local radio stations with “Happiness” and “Heart of Stone”; his mix of soul and folk led to him being hailed as the missing link between Nick Drake and Scott Walker. The Dutch, in particular, went for him in a big way.
And their affection is requited – for Jeremiah recorded his new album, Gold Dust, with Amsterdam’s prestigious Metropole Orchestra. “I’m really thrilled about that,” he told us when we met up in Brussels. “As a child I often listened to Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds. I used to ask myself back then how they did it, with all those orchestral arrangements and so on. Now all that has fallen into my lap, I feel like a kid in a toyshop.”

Your career is going well, but how are things with you? On your new album sleeve you look at us with the eyes of a melancholy dog.
Jonathan Jeremiah: Oh, I tried a few other photographs in which I’m laughing. But I didn’t think much of my teeth. [laughs] Things are fine. That photo was taken at home, with a cup of tea beside me. I was relaxed, but at the same time I wanted to convey the intensity of my new album.

“Fighting since the Day We Are Born” – that’s a heavy song. You sing about...
Jeremiah: ... my father. Yeah, he died late last year after a long illness. I wrote that song for him to get well soon, but he never got to hear it. We all experience things that hit us hard. But I don’t want to let my head drop. The tunnel may be darker than on the first album, but there is more light at the end. That is the way I feel myself at present; oddly enough, it has given me a more positive outlook. My father stayed positive all the time, right to the end. Even in the hospital, surrounded by doctors and surgeons, he kept telling everyone proudly that I was a “famous singer”. [smiles]

Did his illness and death have a big impact on your writing?
Jeremiah: Yes, of course. I spent a lot of time travelling over the last couple of years and met lots of people. That was fantastic, but I missed London too, and my family. My mother isn’t very well either [she has a neurological condition - TZ]. So, lots of the songs are about my family life and memories from my childhood. This record is a bit like a photo album that I’m browsing through.

“All We Need Is a Motorway” says one of the songs. Are you fond of driving?
Jeremiah: [laughs] No. I don’t even have a driver’s license. It expresses my desire to escape for a while from the big city, for example to the caravan my parents had at the seaside, where the seven of us – I come from a big Irish family – used to squeeze in on holidays. But the escape routes I take usually lead to another city after all. [laughs] I’m a city boy; I’m a big believer in having concrete under my feet.

Is that why you moved to Berlin for a while?
Jeremiah: Changing your surroundings is always good for inspiration and Berlin is still a fantastic place. It has London’s good points, but without that corporate feel to it. I wrote “Gold Dust” there. I was staying in a hotel that had a view across the city. Berlin has an incredibly beautiful skyline, although you will never hear Berliners saying that, because it’s pretty harsh. That is the dust, and the gold is the sunrise. I’m fond of both.
Berlin is hip. It seems like everybody wants to be there. Jules Buckley, a friend of mine who has conducted the orchestras I worked with, lives there, among others.

Those orchestral passages are emphatically present on your new album, but thankfully you alternate them with intimate, little folk gems like “All We Need Is a Motorway.”
Jeremiah: The Metropole Orchestra is a seventy-strong band. That could easily become too much, so I tried to restrain myself. On my debut I was a bit closer to American soul, as a result of the time I spent in the US. By being away from my homeland so much, I think I started to sound more British – maybe a little bit more pompous, yes. I found growing up in North London pretty tough. I was always trying to escape in my head. For me that often meant soundtracks and films.

Jef Neve has invited you to take part in his Radio 1 Session. Do you know each other?
Jeremiah: I had heard his music through a Belgian record company friend. Then just by chance I received a message from him asking if I would like to work on a song together. Of course I said yes! Hopefully we will finish the song in time.

He plays classical and jazz. Do you often listen to those kinds of music?
Jeremiah: More so now than in my teenage years. Now I find certain contemporary classical pieces more accessible, and it is nice to have a break from the lyric-led music I have always been surrounded by.


JAMMING WITH JEF
Every year five Belgian artists get to invite musicians for a live session on (VRT) Radio 1. One of this year’s “curators” is the Flemish jazz and classical pianist Jef Neve, whose guests include Jonathan Jeremiah. “This is a unique opportunity to share an evening with my musical heroes onstage,” says Neve. “Moreover, I wasn’t limited to one genre or another, and that’s precisely where I get my musical inspiration. I discovered Jonathan Jeremiah recently; his bell-like voice and vivid compositions touched me immediately. Apart from our own repertoires, we might well do a few covers of songs we have been fans of all our lives. But that’s something you’ll have to find out on 30 October – it’s a surprise!”

Radio 1 Sessies • 29/10 > 2/11, Jef Neve + Jonathan Jeremiah, Daan, Sons of the New World, Sir Yes Sir, José James, 30/10, 19.30, SOLD OUT!, VRT, boulevard Auguste Reyerslaan 52, Schaarbeek/Schaerbeek